New Gridlink Track! “Ketsui!” Gesundheit!

Hiatus or no, I don’t know how I managed to completely miss this news, especially when the album’s release date was announced less than a week ago. So, yeah, shame on me. But, GREAT news: there’s a new Gridlink song in the world! It’s called “Ketsui,” and it originally appeared on this free sampler from Handshake Inc. and Alternative Tentacles. And it will, of course, be on Longhena, Gridlink’s forthcoming farewell album.

So how is it? I, for one, fuckin’ love it. It’s certainly by no means “mainstream,” but I’d argue that it’s less uncompromisingly barbaric than the material from Amber Gray and Orphans. The beginning almost sounds like a triumphant power metal song hopped up on coke, and even once the song goes to plaid, the interplay of the guitars maintains a somewhat odd, but by no means unwelcome, air of civility. It’s like, if Amber Gray and Orphans were the Hulk, “Ketsui” is Hannibal Lecter. You’re still fucked, but in one instance there’s a precision to the way you’re fucked, as opposed to just ending up a mush stain on a wall.

Handshake, Inc. will release Longhena on February 19, both as a digital release and on vinyl… including an aqua-marine/blue vinyl edition, of which only 300 copies will be pressed. (SelfMadeGod and DiskUnion will be releasing the album on CD in Europe and Japan, respectively.)

[via Heavy Blog is Heavy]