In the context of the song premiere we’re about to bring you now, it’s a relevant coincidence that today is the birthday of Wilfred Owen, one of the first poets to depict the horrifying realities of war, instead of writing glorified, nationalistic verse. He served in the British army during World War I and was killed in battle at the age of 25. Here’s his poem “Anthem for Doomed Youth“:
The reason for the relevance of this coincidence, and that poem, lies in the subject matter of the song we’re about to share from Ad Infinitum Et Ultra, a new album from the Swedish band Grimtone that will be released in May by Void Wanderer Productions and War Productions.
Before we get to that subject matter, and of course the music, we ought to disclose that the song, like the album, will come as a big surprise to fans of Grimtone‘s previous releases. Though not entirely unexpected, Grimtone‘s mastermind Michael Lang decided to make a dramatic turn in his musical path, a turn away from the kind of furious black metal for which Grimtone is best known to “Doom metal with a black metal attitude on the vocals” (his words).
Later in this article we’ll have more to share about the direction of the new album, but first let’s focus on the song we’re premiering — “Grains of Sand“. Here’s what Michael has told us about the subject matter:
“Lyrically set through the eyes of a dying soldier. The grains of sand slowly pass through the hour glass of life. Each breath he takes is a step closer to death. As the final grains fall, will he be satisfied with his life? Will he be content and ready to leave this world?”
This mid-paced song’s ringing opening notes and mysterious quavering shimmers create a mood of grim reflection — but the song soon becomes massively heavier as the bass rumbles and groans, the riffing slowly writhes and moans in turmoil, and the drums crack like gunshots.
Harrowing screams, raw and ragged, expel the words in pain, while the music continues portraying spine-shaking and soul-collapsing ruin — but chilling spectral tones wail in the heights, like beckoning spirits who’ve already seen their own ruin.
Those grieving opening notes ring out their desolate lament again at the end, a final farewell to the world before the light goes out.
Or, to share Michael Lang‘s description:
A clean guitar picks a haunting theme as the dying man opens his eyes, held back dynamics describe how he contemplates his approaching death leading up to an atmospheric chorus where he accepts his fate.. the final grains fall as the haunting theme returns to end the song.. and his life.
Michael Lang has enlisted an ever-changing array of vocalists on his previous albums. On this one, Kostas B (Apocalyptic Leaders) recorded them. And now here’s more info from Michael about the new album as a whole:
This album sees me going in the opposite direction from all the other albums I’ve written for Grimtone. When I began writing for this album I couldn’t get myself to write yet another album of high speed blast beats. I’d by 2023 written seven black metal albums in 8 years and I needed a change, and the directions was quite obvious: Doom metal with a black metal attitude on the vocals.
At first I was very hesitent, toying with the idea of doing only an ep with three songs. The music differed too much from the previous Grimtone albums I thought, but in the end I said “fuck it, my band, my music”. It’s always a risk changing the style of a band this radically, but considering how happy I am with how it turned out, it’s a risk worth taking.
Kostas B and I had done the Thymata album so I knew what he was capable of, which was very reassuring. I knew I could make a really good doom metal album with him.
The primary goal with this album was to make a slow, gritty, teeth grinding doom metal album with a lot of attitude, an angry album, not a sad doom album. Another goal was to make this album song orientated, as in it had to have proper choruses and song structure, not just riffs upon riffs leading nowhere. A bit of melody never hurts.
Apart from a certain band from Birmingham being a big influence, I found a lot inspiration from classical music this time. It influenced me in setting a mood for every song, what kind of emotional motive I had for each song. When to hold back and when to floor it so to speak. This album is by far the most dynamic one I’ve ever made.
Void Wanderer Productions and War Productions will release the album on May 23rd, on Digipack CD limited to 200 copies, and digitally. They recommend it for fans of “old Paradise Lost, old My Dying Bride, and Candlemass, but with harsh vocals”.
ORDER:
https://voidwanderer.com/product/grimtone-cd/
https://warproductions.bandcamp.com/album/wpcd050
GRIMTONE:
https://grimtone.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/grimtone.official/
https://www.facebook.com/Grimtoneofficial/