Metallers Grayscale Season have released their new album feel something new.
First on the record we have Still Hurts which sets the listener up sonically for what the album has to offer. Kicking off with the velocity and aggression you’d expect with vocalist Eddie Lejhagen belting out ‘you breathe heavily as your hands break and the adrenaline will never stop the ache’. Later in the track, we have the other half of the sound that this LP will cover. It’s this beautiful, warm and mesmerizing section that guitarist Richard Sörensen sets the tone with his clean and delicate playing before bassist Adam Dahlman elevates it with this gorgeous vocal passage as he sings ‘please stop’. It’s haunting, it’s aggressive and it’s stunning; a common theme throughout this entire record.
Next, we have the lead single and one of my personal favourites Verified. This track wastes no time with Sörensen kicking in right away and Lejhagen immediately screaming ‘a fraud in plain sight’. This song has everything you’d expect from a lead single, it’s energetic, it’s relentless, it’s bouncy. They keep the formula fresh, by going into the bridge and doubling down before ending the track on a high note.
Later in the LP we have Dolour, which is one of the two tracks Dahlman had written about the experience of becoming a father. This is a standout track on the record, and it’s also one of the most angelic. This acts as somewhat of a pallet cleanser throughout the runtime, but does it make an impact? With the lyrics ‘I’d like to think that I would stay beneath your skin. Your head falls back as you sing’. The song starts with Dahlman isolated, with drummer Lowe Carlenfors softly complimenting in the background. As the track progresses, we later have this warm 80’s synths kick in to build the tension as the song comes to a climactic/cinematic close.
Concluding the record we have two, which follows the similar theme of parenthood Dahlman wrote about earlier on the record. This track truly has an eerie, but dreamy sound to it. This song covers all the sonic characteristics the album goes through front to back. It has it’s slow, breathtaking sections, while fitting in the aggression from Lejhagen and Sörensen. It really is a satisfying conclusion to a mesmerizing album experience.
Grayscale Season’s feel something new has proven to be one of my favourite discoveries and album experiences so far this year. The only problem I have with the record is that I wanted it to last longer, considering it only comes in at 8 tracks. With that being said, you can tell the band really honed in on this one and I definitely prefer quality over quantity. If you aren’t familiar with Grayscale Season yet, you should be.
feel something new is out now independently through the band. Pick up some merch to support them from their webstore https://grayscaleseason.8merch.com
8.5/10