San Francisco’s Grayceon are gearing up for the release of their new two-song LP, Pearl and The End Of Days, and revealed cover art today, which was done by acclaimed artist David V. D’Andrea (who has been commissioned for work with bands like Sleep, Witchcraft, Swans, Mogwai and more). Recorded with Jack Shirley at Atomic Garden Studios in the Bay Area earlier this Fall, Pearl and The End Of Days will be available February 12th on digital and vinyl formats from The Flenser. Check out videos of the band in the studio now on their Youtube page and stay tuned for song premieres and pre-order information coming very soon.
Over the course of seven years and three proper full-lengths, Grayceon, comprised of one guitar (Max Doyle), one cello (Jackie Perez Gratz, who, along with her cello, has appeared on albums from bands like Om, Agalloch, Cattle Decapitation, Giant Squid, Amber Asylum and more), and one set of drums (Zack Farwell) has managed to tackle the full spectrum of heavy music’s extensive clutch of emotions. Pummeling sludgy metal quickly carves into fiery post-punk that’s knotted within epic experimental rock, and it’s all blanketed with the additional allure of ample use of mellow stretches to fully round out the pattern. Words such as „enterprising,” „unconventional” and „dynamic” have all been utilized in an attempt to encapsulate the band’s overall design, but the absolute consensus remains: Grayceon thrives as a splendid anomaly amongst an ever-increasing sea of peers.
Pearl and The End of Days is a 30-minute album comprised of two sprawling epics that bend the concentration closer toward Grayceon‘s rockier roots. Cellist Jackie Perez Gratz commented, „We wrote these songs over the course of the past two years, on the tails of the release of our third full-length, All We Destroy, and a time during which I was pregnant for nine months and my daughter was born. All three of us went into a collective hibernation where we weren’t playing out much and didn’t have any big album plans.” She continued, “Lack of specific goals and immediate expectations gave us the freedom to penetrate a newfound energy in our music. These two new songs, ‘Pearl’ and ‘The End of Days’, are the expression of that energy: more rock based, overall faster tempos, and a lighter heart lyrically. The EP embodies Grayceon’s musical style and challenges, but the songs, while taking on a different mood than previous material, still allow plenty of opportunity for head banging.”
„Grayceon creates some of the most compelling and rewardingly innovative music of our day…” – Metal Review
„…Always challenging but never obvious.” -Terrorizer
„Grayceon fuses prog rock, sludge metal and neoclassical chamber music for its own sound.” – SF Gate