Doomsdayer's Holiday

About

The sixth album by Portland, Oregon’s instrumental band Grails opens with a somewhat unnerving series of screams — thankfully muted — which gives way to circling, sludgy guitars, and sheets of hissing cymbals. Then, riding atop the building mass of sound — which has a cold wind is blowing right through it — a guitar neatly begins repeating a series of notes before fading slowly into the morass. The brilliance and uniqueness of Grails is exemplified by the segue here into “Reincarnation Blues,” which features Middle Eastern-textured strings and finger cymbals, before the drums and guitars take over, pushing aside eastern sounds for a more western feel. Both tracks meld together seamlessly, transporting the listener several times in just eight minutes to completely different aural landscapes, without force. <i>Doomsdayer’s Holiday</i> commands attention, and with only one “epic” track — the spacey, eight-minute “Acid Rain” — it’s not even particularly long. The record leaves you a tad hungry for more, even after the sprawling explorations of “Immediate Mate,” the multi-textured psychedelia of “X Contaminations,” and the lulling beauty of “The Natural Man.” Sublime.

via Apple Music