Churning depths of plaintive sorrow, stark self-examination, and moving soundscapes unfold in TIMES OF GRACE, with flashes of cathartic power and an undercurrent of insistent urgency. It’s all a meditation on absence, grief, bewilderment, and rebirth, summoned with harrowing authenticity.
The Hymn of a Broken Man arrived in 2011, nearly a decade after Leach’s exit from Killswitch Engage, the pivotal New Wave Of American Heavy Metal band the duo co-founded with friends in 1999. The first music from TIMES OF GRACE materialized during Dutkiewicz’s arduous recovery from near-crippling back surgery. A collection of songs the multi-instrumentalist and producer knew would suit his once and future bandmate. The first album earned acclaim from BBC Music, The Aquarian, and Rock Sound. It willfully upended expectations, with flourishes of shoegaze and ambiance in its songs.
Now, ten years after TIMES OF GRACE first surfaced, comes the follow-up.
Comfortably stretched beyond the parameters of what came before, without sacrificing an ounce of integrity, TIMES OF GRACE weave between pensive, heavy, midtempo rock, riffs, and atmosphere. The pair’s vocal interplay makes for a rich, dense, and enthralling concoction, powering through various trips through dark nights of the soul and mind-expanding excursions into the wild. Songs of Loss and Separation benefits wildly from the powerhouse performance of ex-Envy On The Coast drummer Dan Gluszak, who toured behind the first album and is now an official member of the band.
The sprawling second album from TIMES OF GRACE channels a dissonant, menacing, and unrelenting depression. Haunting romanticism and deep spiritual yearning collide in beautiful melancholy. It’s a diverse but singular statement, like the most beloved work of classic bands. Songs Of Loss and Separation, insistent in its bluesiness, bleeds distortion and emotion, like a nerve, exposed.