Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday

Temporary Residence
Published October 16, 2008  by Christine Leonard in Record Reviews

Portland instrumental rock gods Grails have apparently cleansed themselves of unwanted baggage (and band members) after their 2007 release, Burning Off the Impurities. The band, known as Laurel Canyon before their 2003 full-length debut, already released Take Refuge in Clean Living on Important Records in May of this year. They’re now following up that album with seven ribald cuts on the spooky psychedelic romp Doomsdayer’s Holiday. Behold as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse charge in for the title track, galloping hoof beats and all. Colossal, limitless and unapologetically imaginative, Grails create opulent outward-spiralling soundscapes akin to those of Mars Volta, but peppered with the masculine danger of Coheed and Cambria. Flaunting their ability to lull a stadium full of concertgoers into a Pink Floyd-like trance, Grails tap into a melodic and progressive vein of heavy metal without crossing into Gothic territory. Bookended by twin gems “Reincarnation Blues” and “Predestination Blues,” the album succeeds through the horrifying beauty of Alex Hall’s tone-on-tone guitar runs and percussionist Emil Amos’s nonchalant blues reverie and bouts of furious antagonism. Doomsdayer’s Holiday is your personal trans-dimensional audio travel guide to cruising the river Styx.



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