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ALBUMS THAT WILL FUCK YOUR FACE OFF IN 2011: GRAYCEON, ALL WE DESTROY

 Monday, January 10th, 2011 at 3:30pm by

Grayceon
All We Destroy
Label – Profound Lore
Release Date – March 1, 2011

To quote a Coalesce album title, there is nothing new under the sun. Wait, shit – that was actually a passage from Ecclesiastes. See what I mean? Forty-odd years since metal’s birth, it’s tough to innovate beyond folding in a genre or influence that you wouldn’t think would work in metal. While I don’t believe that “originality” always trumps craftsmanship and verve in importance, I do miss the early days of my metal listenership, when everything sounded new to my virgin ears (as opposed to my current whore ears).

That’s why I was so stoked to have my face first fucked off by San Francisco’s Grayceon, around the time their self-titled debut came out on Vendlus a few years back. Here was a band that was unique through and through. You don’t find many metal bands with a female lead singer that refuses to play the siren role in some dork’s maiden-rescuing fantasy LARP. You’ll find even fewer bands with a cello as a lead instrument, and even fewer than that which utilize finger-picked electric guitar. Grayceon feature all three. More important than those eyebrow-raising bullet points, Grayceon make a wholly new music, one that grafts medieval cadences and the pastoral textures of early British prog onto a bedrock of supremely headbangable, ornate riffing. And there are no seams. Grayceon make metal, yes (and amazingly heavy metal at that), but they draw equally on …And Justice for All as they do Guillaume de Machaut.

Go listen to the nine-minute “Shellmounds,” the one track that’s been released from Grayceon’s forthcoming third album All We Destroy. (You can find it here or here). In the two and a half minutes before the vocals kick in, we’ve already got a folksy guitar/cello duet for an aperitif, a fucking phenomenal central riff, and some of the most propulsive skinsmanship I’ve heard in ages from drummer Zack Farwell (also in Walken). Cellist/vocalist Jackie Perez-Gratz (also a member of Giant Squid ) sings the most memorable, heartbreaking melody of Grayceon’s career, and the crunch-ometer readings from guitarist Max Doyle (also in Walken) during the song’s last minute are unbearably high.

I’m lucky enough to have heard the rest of All We Destroy, and can confirm that it’s easily the band’s finest hour (or 51 minutes, to be more precise). While they’re working with the same general parameters as always, the advancements are many. Denser arrangements with some tasteful overdubbing, heavier/darker riffing, a touch of cathartic screaming, the most dynamic production Grayceon’s had by a long shot (seriously, listen to those drums on headphones), and the band’s strongest batch of songs to date. Here’s hoping that the jump to the über-respectable Profound Lore label will help Grayceon find many thousands of new faces to fuck off. Go listen to them. This band deserves your ears.

-SR

Photo by Daryl Darko

If you’re planning to be in San Francisco on February 11th, go to Grayceon’s record release show at Bottom of the Hill and get a copy of All We Destroy for free!

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  • Michiel

    I didn’t expect it, but yes, my face has just been fucked off. Why didn’t I hear this until now?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Arthur-von-Nagel/100000513949649 Arthur von Nagel

    Great call! Grayceon make incredible music, and they’re such nice people they deserve all the press in the world. Looking forward to their CD release show next month.

  • Strapping Young Lad

    woah, this is really awesome. Good find!!!

  • CtrlZ

    Good shit

  • ben

    “Shellmounds” sounds really great. Looking forward to this one.

  • http://hipstersoutofmetal.blogspot.com/ Anso DF

    Oh my yes. Yes, indeed.

  • GoingDeaf?

    Really great, unique band. For those who are curious, “finger-picked electric guitar” refers to ALL the guitar playing…including the heavy parts. I’ve never seen the dude use a pick in either of his bands, and I’m assuming he didn’t for the recording, either.

    San Francisco is really developing a “sound” with bands like Grayceon, Giant Squid, and Walken (who share various members), along with heavyweights like Ludicra and Slough Feg. There’s an organic, progressive sound that runs through all these bands, even though individually, they are each very unique.

    • jamesjones

      If this guy is doing pinch harmonics without a pick, then wow.

      • Ebirah

        He is.

  • Kazz

    I always thought this band would really benefit from some better production to let they’re doing come through clearer and more powerfully, so I’m really glad to hear this new stuff. It sounds great.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-Goldwater/33612828 Daniel Goldwater

    Oh man. This is delicious!

  • Deth

    Glad the vocals are few and far between, they don’t sound right – slightly off key and there just isn’t much of a singing voice there. Musically, awesome stuff. I could see myself ignoring the craptastic vox eventually.

    Judgement Night is my current favorite for string metal – only they’re all strings and yet still heavy.

  • Alex_P

    Very, very good stuff from a band whose name I had heard dozens of times but never checked out. Very San Francisco and very good.

  • http://crescentshield.com Crescent Shield

    I heard this tune a few days ago and I loved it. Looking forward tot he album.

  • SandEater

    Awesome stuff. I love bands that try to push the boundary one way or another w/out sounding too cliche. I guess this is in the same vein as Madder Mortem but w/ a cello & not as shiny production. If you dig this you might wanna check out Desiderata.

  • Ebirah

    The vocals are gorgeous, dead on, and heartbreaking. Have no idea what “Deth” is talking about, but obviously his perfect pitch is far and above that of these professional, world renowned musicians. There are some metal dudes who will never except a female taking over such duties in a band, unless they try to sound like dudes. Personally, I’m so fucking bored of grown men screaming in mics, trying to sound like British goblins or ten foot ogres. That’s the phoniest shit in music today, and is a complete cop out for a lack of talent. This band, and every element of it, including the flawless vocals is as true and sincere as it gets.

    Top ten in many 2011 lists for sure.

    • Kazz

      Calm down dude. First of all “world renowned” is stretching it a little bit when youre talking about Grayceon. Second, I agree that the vocals are the part of the band that could use the most work even though I woulnd’t say they’re crappy. Finally, because you don’t like something in music (in this case, harsh vocals) doesn’t mean it signifies a lack of talent, maybe your ears are just too delicate for anything thats not crisp and clean.

      • Ebirah

        Calling this band’s vocals off key is as accurate as saying they’re in Spanish. Calling them “craptastic” is fucking insulting and makes the dude sound like a dildo. Also being the go to cellist for Neurosis, Cattle Decapitation, Agalloch, Om, Today is the Day, and a couple dozen other world famous bands, as well as being a full time member of internationally selling bands Amber Asylum and Giant Squid, and having toured across Europe, makes Jackie Perez Gratz the definition of world renowned musician, who would also happen to have perfect pitch. Ever try playing a fret-less instrument?

        And you’re right, harsh vocals aren’t always a cover up for a total lack of vocal talent and musician ship, just about 94% of the time. C’mon, we are buried in screaming bullshit bands these days. If I wanna hear that anymore these days, I’ll listen to Weakling, Neurosis, Ludicra, Cattle Decapitation, Gojira and a small handful of other bands. The other 425,682 “metal” bands we get smothered by on line can take a hike.

        Totally calm here brother. Just passionately expressing my opinion and support for one of the most original and sincere bands going today. And I can’t stand how ignorant and rude some people are when just “expressing their opinions”. They need to get called out on their shit. Now I must go lather my frail, inexperienced ears in lotion and honey.

        And yes, British goblins.

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/Yevgeniy-Reznichenko/1053344492 Yevgeniy Reznichenko

          If you hate Scream vocals, why are you on a metal blog site?

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Yevgeniy-Reznichenko/1053344492 Yevgeniy Reznichenko

            Sorry didnt finish reading your post, nevermind.

        • Kazz

          I’d like to hear what the difference between a “screaming bullshit band” and a… screaming nonbullshit band is. Besides ‘it’s bullshit if you don’t like it’.

    • dave

      british goblins?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Adam-Di-Luzio/689747635 Adam Di Luzio

    Musically, these guys are proficient, to say the least, particularly the drummer. But yeah, the vocals could be better for my tastes, a bit more inflection wouldn’t go astray.
    Overall, I’d say my face has received a long and loving blowjob but not quite fucked off.

  • Trux

    for once… you got my attention….

  • Brian Roach

    wow, this is very impressed. and shocker, it’s on Profound Lore. Can that label release a bad album? They are becoming a ‘no brainer’ label for me, ie, if it’s on Profound Lore, it’s gotta be good!

  • mugen

    SO glad to see this band getting the coverage they deserve. Beautiful, beautiful stuff.

  • Goatus MAximus

    “You don’t find many metal bands with a female lead singer that refuses to play the siren role in some dork’s maiden-rescuing fantasy LARP”
    I beg to differ
    See:
    Salome
    Arch Enemy
    Otep
    Wicked Wisdom

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Etan-Rosenbloom/601426 Etan Rosenbloom

      Goatus, of course there are tons of female screamers in metal – I’d add Landmine Marathon’s Grace Perry, Dreaming Dead’s Elizabeth Schall, Fuck the Facts’ Mel Mongeon and Ami Lawless from Voetsek to your list.

      My point was more that Jackie Perez-Gratz is one of the rare female metal vocalists that does CLEAN vocals, but not in an overblown, gothic/ metal style that pits this “feminine” siren against the “masculine” metal band. That tends to irritate me.