| CD REVIEW Greyline |
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Band : Greyline This North Dutch act (they’re from the region called Friesland) was formed in 2001, and in the last couple of years the guys (singer/ bassist Jabe Piter Faber, guitarists Jurgen Scheper and Job Tichelmans, plus drummer Wieger Jan Scheper) have toured all over Europe, while bringing delight in home country to the audiences of such festivals as Waldrock and Eurosonic, making it to the finals of the Grote Prijs Van Nederland band competition, or supporting the likes of Slayer, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, and Textures! They’ve taken on a very peculiar stance towards promoting their new music…but more about that later, first some more historical facts! A first (4-track) EP titled Shaping Directions was released in Summer 2003 and followed up by the band’s full-length debut Red Carpet Avenue (rotation of 1,000 copies sold out in only 2 months!!!)the year after. The material on the full-length, as compared to the EP, showed a progression from fast and aggressive yet melodic songs to a more complex and Heavy side of the band. The European tour that ensued in promotion of the album saw the guys supporting the likes of Shai Hulud, Converge, and The Red Chord. The nine songs on the new album (which the guys wrote during the past year) seem to be a further progression for the band, in a way of fine-tuning their diverse influences. Recorded with engineer Arno Krabman (worked with Autumn), the songs were mixed by Kylesa guitarist/ singer/ producer Phillip Cope (he also did the 2009’s Red Album by Baroness), and then mastered by Scott Hull (Relapse in-house producer, guitarist with Pig Destroyer and Agoraphobic Nosebleed, and solo-artist). Obviously, that must’ve cost a little penny…which brings us back to the ending of paragraph one, and the way the guys are promoting the album…because ein spite of what the recording/ mixing/ mastering of the album might’ve cost, the band has made the aalbum available for free download from their website [(www.) greyonline.com]. How do they expect to get a return on their investments in the album? Simply, as the material is made available to as many people as possible with this method, the band expects to gain fans who’ll then come visit the band at concerts, fans whom might even go as far as to contact festival promotors with a wish to see Greyline included in the band line-up, fans who might…if the fancy takes ‘em…buy the album in its vinyl edition, a music carrier which has proven time and again to be much more organic and closer to the listener than the CD! Enough of that, let’s talk music! Because having listened to the album a couple of times, I have to confess having been confused (and led on a stray path, concerning this band’s musical direction) by the review printed in leading Dutch Rock & Metal magazine Aardschok. Okay, so the band itself makes things a bit vague by calling themselves simply a Rock/ Metal act, stating that this time around they focused more compact and catchy song structures, and then claiming the album’s something “…for fans of Baroness, Explosions In The Sky, Clutch, High On Fire, Kylesa, Isis, and Neurosis…”(quote from the biography). And I can understand that, to un-initiated or unexperienced people (as far as the “separation” of genres and sub-genres goes) a bit of confusion would be quite natural when listening to the band’s material a first time! Yet, some elements run through the album as somewhat of a constant, like the down-tuned guitars, and frontman Jabe’s raucaus voice. The hypnotically repetitive instrumental intro (only about a minute long) to album opening song “Flooding The Mountain” starts the confusion with its semi-acoustic Country flavouring before the band explodes in a more energetic mode (and ends the songs with a return to that intro). For of the ensuing “Nomads On The Run” frontman Jabe go for a calmer approach in the opening and another passage in the song…and already some typical Stoner (aha, the word’s been dropped!!!) come through in the instrumental mid-section! And with that in mind you already listen to the more energetic rest of the song with another ear! During “Where Death Do Us Start”, Jabe adds to his vocal diversity with some added Death-like growling. Stylistically, the song kinda confuses, because not speficically geared towards a specific sub-genre. Still, a very nice track energetic track! The ensuing “Diamonds In Our Dreams” shows its affinities from the opening riffs! Although quite energetic, this is definitively Stoner. To my own taste, the chorus returns a tad too much, but otherwize this is certainly a sing-along! We now come to a somewhat softer passage on the album with semi-acoustic instrumental “Hunt Of the Coyote”, in which the slide-play and the extra twang on the electric guitar plus the added banjo make for a great Country Rock, say Southern Rock tweaked shortie (only 2:55 long, but oh-so delightful). A touch of the Isis/ Neurosis-typical atmospherics opens the ensuing “Riget”, which then evolves into a great mid-paced Stoner track with calmer ending! Jabe’s voice on this one has a rather bombastic touch, putting it in the Mastodon region of categorisations. For “Ravens Ahead” the pace is back to full trottle, Jabe alternating his “normal” (hoarse) voice with semi-screamed bits. Halfway however, the guys bring a slower bit with a rather twangy slide-played guitar which is simply to-die-for. The ensuing “Knives & Smiles” follows in an somewhat similar mode, but different again, with the “calmer” passage now typified only by Jabe’s “norrmal” type of singing. Album closer “Mirrors” is thé typical Stoner track, and not only because of its length exceeding 11 minutes! Intensities in this track alternate from atmospherics in the opening and closing, to drawn-out calm & heavy. Definitely one of the most emotionally-laden tracks on the album, and Jabe shines throughout! Well, he’s not the only one, because the restraint the guitarists show is simply admirable! Although lengthy enough, the track does not bore the listener for one second, partly thanks to the freaky effects on the lead guitarist’s instrument! In essence, this is one album you need not even think about: DOWNLOAD the thing!!! Then listen to iit again and again! Preferably as soon as possible, so you can convince yourself of the necessity (or futility) of buying the album (or not). Yoù might wanna wait until the band comes to play in your neighborhood (check dates at the band’s website or myspace.com/greylinetheband) to catch the album, but I’m afraid you’d better hurry to get your own, vinyl, copy of the album!!! In my personal appreciation rating, this band scores pretty high, but due to the fact that I have so many other records to review at this very moment, my time with each of ‘em is somewhat limited (gotta move along, baby!), and Behind The Masquerade has therefore not been able to impress me to the point of putting the album in my year-lists. However, this is definitely an album which I intent to listen to aagain during the busy festival season (when our editor-in-chief leaves his slaves a moderate amount of rest). 95/100 Tony. |