About this item

The first new album by GRAILS in six years. Features members of OM, HOLY SONS, LILACS & CHAMPAGNE, and WATTER. RIYL: Pink Floyd, Earth, OM, The Flaming Lips, Clams Casino. Rather than pick up where they left off, Grails take the sky-high riff-based heaviness of their earlier albums and distill it into a nuanced, widescreen opus. The perennial influences of mid-20th century Western film scores, obscure library music, and psychedelic krautrock are indelibly imprinted, but Chalice Hymnal exudes an eerie patience in unfurling the many layers of its subtle details.

Produced by the band over the past five years, Chalice Hymnal bears some of the European psych and experimental hip-hop production techniques of founding members Alex Hall and Emil Amos' other group, Lilacs & Champagne. Amos' meditative metal band, Om, and longtime singer-songwriter project, Holy Sons, also naturally find their way into the Chalice cauldron. Rounding out their leaner line-up, cofounder Zak Riles (also of experimental kraut-psych trio, Watter) layers finger-picked acoustic guitars into a prog-folk hybrid that pushes Grails further into the deep end, displaying a profound resonance, both musically and emotionally. No one else sounds like Grails, and on Chalice Hymnal they sound more like themselves than ever before. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: One of my favourites for a long time, these lot. Add to that Amos's other projects Holy Sons and Lilacs & Champagne, and you have a whole wealth of musical musings to consider. It's obvious that influence has seeped into Grails itself, with the eastern influence much more pronounced and the patchwork found-sound collage vibes segued into their sound like it was there all along. A great return for Grails, and a cementing of their importance in experimental music.

TRACK LISTING

1. Chalice Hymnal (4:22)
2. Pelham (2:49)
3. Empty Chamber (2:33)
4. New Prague (4:50)
5. Deeper Politics (3:49)
6. Tough Guy (3:57)
7. Rebecca (3:47)
8. Deep Snow II (5:48)
9. The Moth & The Flame (4:07)
10. Thorns II (3:59)
11. After The Funeral (10:19)