By Andrew Bansal
Amidst hundreds of bands that play the style of music we love to listen to and support, very seldom comes a band that catches the eyes and ears straightaway, and it’s even rarer for such a band to have a long-lasting impact. When I saw Holy Grail for the first time as they performed at Anaheim’s Chain Reaction club in December 2009, I immediately put them in this rare category. Even though they draw influences from bands that I’m not at all unfamiliar with, there was just something about Holy Grail’s music which made them stand out all on their own. Over the course of the next two years, I grew to love their live performances both as opening act and headliners, and thoroughly enjoyed their two releases, the “Improper Burial” EP and the debut full length “Crisis In Utopia”. Needless to say, I was eagerly anticipating their next album, and a few days back, I was excited to get an advance promo link from their label.
While “Improper Burial” can be described as quintessential classic metal, I felt they made a smooth transition to a more modern and musically richer style of songwriting on the full-length album, with tunes such as ‘Crisis In Utopia’, ‘The Blackest Night’, ‘Chase The Wind’ and ‘Hollow Ground’, but even then, they stayed true to their roots. Much of the same can be said about the music on “Ride The Void”. The band has continued to explore their musical abilities, both individual and collective, and the result is a much darker, deeper and diverse set of tunes that showcases their growth as a band.
During the aforementioned time period when I was frequenting the band’s shows and getting myself familiarized with their music, I interacted with the band members quite a bit, and based on those conversations I imagined their next album to go a different route, may be a progressive metal-type thing, or a 70s hard rock album a.l.a. Rainbow or Deep Purple, given traditional metal’s lack of popularity these days. But I was pleasantly surprising to find out that they continued from where they left off in ‘Crisis In Utopia’ and simply added more layers and intricacies to the same style, giving us an album to really savour.
The instrumental intro ‘Archeus’ sets the tone right away. It gives us a clear indication of the emphasis on guitar work, an aspect this album hugely thrives on. Eli Santana has matured as a songwriter and Alex Lee has put in a splendid effort in his Holy Grail debut album, and the two of them gel together brilliantly. Luna’s vocals kick in as the next track ‘Bestia Triumphans’ begins. It’s not quite an all-guns-blazing ‘My Last Attack’ or ‘Immortal Man’ type of tune, but it’s a very well-composed track and lets the listener settle down into the new Holy Grail sound.
Moving on, ‘Dark Passenger’ along with ‘Bleeding Stone’ and the title track’ Ride The Void’ together make up the best portion of the album in my opinion. They build upon the two starting tracks, get the listener completely hooked, and become the driving force for the rest of the album. These 3 tracks provide 13 minutes of pure delight for the old school metal fan in me, and when played live, they should turn out to be enjoyable for all the headbangers. ‘Bleeding Stone’ is my absolute favorite at this point, and I can already foresee raised fists, banging heads and mosh pits in full force as Holy Grail performs it on stage.
Despite the incredible heights of tracks #3, 4 and 5, the remainder of ‘Ride The Void’ has its moments, for sure. ‘Too Decayed To Wait’ is a lively fast-paced tune to begin with, and then hits slow, melodic passages with Luna at the helm. About his vocals on the album, it’s interesting to note that he hasn’t gone for the Halford-like screams so much but has found a better mid-range which has allowed him to do more with his voice, hold notes for longer, and combine with his band mates better.
“Crosswinds” and “Take It To The Grave” keep up the pace, specially the latter, which stands out for the strength of the melody in its chorus. The album never lets up, and there is no shortage of catchy hooks and melodies throughout tunes such as “Sleep Of Virtue”, “Silence The Scream” and “The Great Artifice”. Things end on a much darker note though, with the instrumental “Wake Me When it’s Over” and the deeply sombre and beautiful ballad-type composition “Rains Of Sorrow”, which again showcases the quality of Luna’s vocal delivery.
A word or two on the rhythm section; Tyler Meahl on drums and Blake Mount on bass are more solid than ever, even though I wish I could hear the bass a bit more. My only ‘issue’ with the album is the use of death metal growls in two tracks. I feel that Holy Grail’s music is unique in itself, and that’s the great thing about it. Growls make them sound like the generic, cookie-cutter metalcore bands out there. Holy Grail minus growls would be perfect, but may be that’s just my opinion. With that said, I absolutely love the clean backing vocals used in various tracks. They lend incredible strength to the lead vocals, and make for some of the most enjoyable segments of the album.
All in all, Holy Grail have delivered on all fronts with their new release, an album that sees the quintet express themselves freely, an album that should appease the faithful Holy Grail cult, garner newer audiences and an album that promises to end up as the catchiest set of tunes heard in a long, long time. I suggest you to pick it up as soon as you can, and sincerely request you not to listen to the free stream on the internet. Instead buy a physical copy and support these guys. Hail the Grail! \m/
Rating: 9.5/10
Record Labels:
Prosthetic Records (US)
Nuclear Blast (Europe)
Universal (Japan)
Release Dates:
January 16th 2013 (Japan)
January 18th 2013 (Europe)
January 22nd 2013 (US)
Track Listing:
01. Archeus (Intro/Instrumental)
02. Bestia Triumphans
03. Dark Passenger
04. Bleeding Stone
05. Ride The Void
06. Too Decayed To Wait
07. Crosswinds
08. Take It To The Grave
09. Sleep Of Virtue
10. Silence The Scream
11. The Great Artifice
12. Wake Me When It’s Over
13. Rains Of Sorrow
Bonus Track:
14. Can’t Hide The Wolf
Links:
facebook.com/holygrailofficial
twitter.com/holygrailband
ridethevoid.com