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7 out of 10
Grails have been listening to too many early Black Sabbath albums. Actually, too much of the first Black Sabbath album, but if you're going to doom it down, you might as well drink from the source. The title track throws us right in there, with some fairly hideous opening screams - whether in pain or masochistic ecstasy is not clear, but fear not - this is not some Black Widow tribute band, praise be to Beelzebub and all his little wizards. They've taken a long blast on the Led Zep hookah - Kashmir variety, naturally - as Reincarnation Blues and Predestination Blues show. The former begins with an insane Moroccan flute riff which is taken up by the rest of band gloriously - are doom bands supposed to set your feet tapping? And there are echoes of Pink Floyd - Acid Rain, perhaps unsurprisingly, polishes up the crazy diamond to a contemporary brilliance, whilst just managing to avoid the copyright lawyers.
You may find yourself snorting 'prog' at this point but you'd be denying yourself a most interesting journey. Fear not the 'Middle Eastern psychedelic folk-metal' box, either (thought this band may be the only one in there). Grails have fashioned a pagan bodice-ripper of an album, which helps to explain not only the music but also the naked woman on the cover. In a mask. Riding a pig. Immediate Mate is the only weak point, with its glitch-jazz wig-out but the rest - well, wake up. Time to fly.
Listen: www.myspace.com/grailsongs
Tracklist:
1. Doomsdayer's Holiday
2. Reincarnation Blues
3. The Natural Man
4. Immediate Mate
5. Predestination Blues
6. X-Contaminations
7. Acid Rain
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