Gnostic Grain - Chalice
Gnostic Grain is a 2-man band from the UK which started back in 2020. So far they have released several albums, which are obtainable via their Bandcamp site. The idea behind the band is the wish to explore the world of dark-ambient electronic music, while also being reflective of our distant past and using modern technology to achieve it. Chalice is their fourth album, and being more of an album with a focus on the vocal parts. It´s a 5 track album, 45 minutes in total. So far there isn´t a physical release out, but maybe there will be in the future. I have a certain stomach feeling about this act, I sense a bright future ( for some reason).
The first track is called Unheard. Someone having a walk in an underground sewer, sounds of distant birds and the distant sea as well? It stops when a haunting electronic soundtrack melody fades in, with incredible atmospheric sounds going on there as well. In comes the vocals, a deep and mesmerizing male vocal with a lovely British accent (I'm an anglophile in case u didn't know). The first thing that gets into my mind is offcourse Coil, Attrition, and later TG but also with a touch of the more electronic-driven Ulver. Absolutely jaw-dropping material here! Love the synthy xylophones and the violins!
The second track Uber Alles starts with ritualistic chanting and drums, a beautiful melancholic piano part, awesome goosebumps vocals, and really eerie drone parts. Again with the synthy violins, the element of doom and darkness is quite certain here... being more in the cosmic-horror section. Later on, a cool organ is added, and a kind of doom's trip-hop rhythm... really dramatic! Fans of Deutsch Nepal would also love this. The apocalypse is surely here, lyrics like ´The night turned black, and the smoke chokes all the people´.
The third track is Chalice. Breathing in and out, dripping sounds in the cave, and a melody... a melody which (for some reason) takes me back to the first Terminator film or John Carpenter's The Thing. It´s still, pretty jaw-dropping... the mysterious and esoteric feel is being quite effective here. Certain moods going on in here, the sort of stuff that happens at night time. The sort of stuff that goes on when (almost) everyone, is asleep. Stuff that goes unseen, unheard. A jazzy saxophone kicks in to enlighten the big city mood just a bit more, we really more saxophones in dark-ambient stuff ( I mean really! ). At this point, I´m a fan of this act!
The fourth track Opiate continues with an awesome synth and piano part. With that excellent piece lyric, ´The night is still a secret from the day, as I crawl back into my dreams´. A tragic, beautiful, and sad song bout an Opiate addict, about how ´When the night steals the day. Incredible track!
The fifth (and last track) called Prawda, is the most ambient/drone-driven track on the album. A slowly rising atmosphere is at work, with some additional chanting vocals in there as well. When the eerie saxophone kicks in, there is a kind of Nurse With Wound vibe. A mechanized female spoken-word is there, is it some kind of Scandinavian language... Finnish?... Not sure. Beautiful ending and a beautiful start, all is good!.
As I mentioned earlier, I´m a fan of Gnostic Grain. Everything is inventive, spotless, beautiful, and incredibly adventurous! Although the Coil resemblance is there, u still (as a listener) receive the feeling of treading into completely unknown waters. Throughout the entire album, Gnostic Grain manages to tell the tale... that there is something hidden in the dark, too dark for any human mind to understand. And it´s there, hidden... and waiting. It´s absolutely incredible! Can´t wait to review these guys again!
Bandcamp (band):