The Obelisk is currently streaming âFore: (Rage At The Cruelty Of Forced Transhumanism)â from experimental electro-prog project GIANT BRAIN. The track comes off the bandâs Grade A Gray Day full-length, set for release on March 10th via Small Stone Recordings and Kozmik Artifactz.
Grade A Gray Day serves as a final studio tribute to the memory of late guitarist Phil Dürr. On January 11th, 2019, Dürr returned to the great mothership in the sky, days after suffering a cardiac arrest while in Germany visiting relatives. Between his international familial bonds and his membership in such hard-touring bands as Big Chief and Five Horse Johnson, he was mourned by friends, fans, and family globally. His loss was most keenly felt in Detroit, Michigan, his hometown since moving to the area from Mexico as a child, and where he was amid recording the latest GIANT BRAIN album.
After the pain, tears, and much reflection, bandmates Al Sutton, Andy Sutton, and Eric Hoegemeyer endeavored to finish what they had started. Coming out four years after Dürrâs passing, Grade A Gray Day is GIANT BRAINâs last musical will and testament, serving as both a tribute to their departed bandmate and the final chapter in a collaboration that reaches back to the 1990s, when the band members laid the groundwork for the Detroit rock renaissance of the following century.
Writes The Obelisk in part, âNext time youâre in need of a definition of âskronk,â the riff twisting itself around âFore: (Rage at the Cruelty of Forced Transhumanism)â should serve nicely. Spaced out in shove early and in drift (and then shove again) later, itâs a quick summary of the stylistic blend that GIANT BRAIN â especially considering the swath of personnel involved â make seamless while staying almost entirely pretense-free in the doing⦠Grade A Gray Day is as sincere in its realization as it possibly could be, and for that, likewise beautiful, sad, loving and â despite all its space prog psych experimentalism, all its far-far-out sounds and antigravity twists â quintessentially humanâ¦â
Read the full review and stream GIANT BRAINâs âFore: (Rage At The Cruelty Of Forced Transhumanism)â courtesy of The Obelisk at THIS LOCATION.
GIANT BRAINâs Grade A Gray Day will be released on CD (limited to 300 copies) and digitally via Small Stone Recordings and vinyl (limited to 300 copies) via Small Stone with Kozmik Artifactz.
Find preorders at THIS LOCATION, where opening track, âMunich,â can be streamed.
Long fixtures of the local scene, GIANT BRAIN coalesced between sessions at Rustbelt Studios, Al Suttonâs recording facility in Royal Oak which has hosted regional and national rock royalty. One of the best guitarists in town, no small feat given the terrain, Dürr laid down six-string ideas that rolled as much as rocked while the Sutton brothers supplied taut rhythmic support and technical expertise. Their mix of Krautrock grooves, Detroit attitude, and ambient textures was first heard on 2007âs Plume. Producer and programmer Eric Hoegemeyer would join the band for 2009âs Thorn Of Thrones, with both albums being released on Small Stone Records.
From its packaging to the songs therein, Grade A Gray Day is a family affair. Sue Lott and Scott Hamilton, who played with Dürr in fellow Small Stoners Luder, guest on different songs, Detroit music luminaries Kenny Tudrick, Billy Reedy, James Simonson, Bob Ebeling, and Darrel Eubank sit in on others. UK transplant and Keeping The Blues Alive recording artist Joanne Shaw Taylor lays down searing guitar leads on two tracks and the album artwork was provided by underground art legend Mark Dancey, whose work has graced album covers by Soundgarden and who played guitar alongside Dürr in Big Chief.
Despite being a studio entity, GIANT BRAIN has always sounded like a band. Thereâs no denying, however, much of their unique musical voice was centered around Phil Dürrâs guitar playing, his ability to change gears from gritty to dreamy in the course of a single verse, his love of blues rock gravity and post-punk atmospherics, always thinking in the back of his mind, âWhat would Eddie Hazel play here?â At times sad and at other points a celebration, Dürrâs presence pulses and reverberates throughout Grade A Gray Day, whether in his guitar interplay with Joanne Shaw Taylor on the opener âMunich,â or the plangent chords hovering underneath Sue Lottâs vocals on âBetween Trains,â the albumâs final track and a moving farewell.
GIANT BRAIN:
Phil Dürr â guitars, bass
Andy Sutton â bass, vocals
Eric Hoegemeyer â drums, keys, programming, synths
Al Sutton â percussion, programming, keys
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The post GIANT BRAIN: New Track Streaming At The Obelisk; Grade A Gray Day Full-Length To See Release Next Month Via Small Stone Recordings/Kozmik Artifactz first appeared on Earsplit Compound.
