One of the greatest pleasures in my life (I lead a very simple, humble life) is when the track I get to premiere is also my favorite from the album. I don't often get to choose this; I like to give the band and whoever is working their PR/their label to decide which foot they'd like to put forward when showcasing a release. So when they end up choosing my favorite track, it makes me feel all tingly inside, like the universe or the stars or whatever else has briefly aligned. I am happy and fortunate to report that this happened with Grant the Sun's "Death Is Real", the track from Voyage (their new album releasing on June 9th via Mas-Kina Recordings) that we're premiering here today.
Grant the Sun's Voyage is a difficult beast to unravel because I want to primarily use the adjective "dream-like" but not in the way that it's usually used. Often this adjective, and oneirous descriptions in general, denote some sort of wishy-washy, stretching out of a palette which is, if you think about it, quite weird. Is that really what dreams look or sound like? Not really, at least not for me; they're more disjointed, start-stop, illogical affairs. Which is exactly what Voyage is. It's one part stoner metal album, with screamed vocals and meaty riffs, one part weirdo progressive rock, with syncopation and staccato time-signatures that will make the biggest Meshuggah fan use their fingers to count, and one part Tangerine Dream like hallucination.
"Death Is Real" is my favorite track on it because it does the best job of balancing all of these sounds into a cohesive whole. It's happy to hammer home those chunky, groovy riffs just as it is to let the guitars unfurl and paint psychedelic landscapes. And those brass instruments! What is this, an Es Taut release? Who will even get that reference, beyond the five hundred people who read my premieres? Who cares! I write this for you my friends and if you like any of my above references, adjectives used, or any of the wild spaces which exist in between them, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. It's really good and I suspect will be sadly underrated. But not here! Here we hold the flag of good, weird, and unique music high and that's exactly what Grant the Sun are all about.
Make sure you head on over here to pre-order this intriguing release and until then, see you in the dream.