Grace Gale – A Few Easy Steps To Ensure Heli-Camel Safety / 2005 Blackout / 9 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/gracegale / http://www.blackoutrecords.com/ Reviewed 04 November 2005

Equally proficient in their emo and hardcore sides, Grace Gale comes through with the dual-vocal assault (a smoothed out set of vocals and one really espousing the Cookie Monster side of things). Arrangements are dense enough that only true music aficionados will appreciate them; this is not the hooked-based emotive rock of your older sibling. Finally inserting something in the way of harmony half-way into their first track “Tijuana Vs. Albuquerque”, the breakdown that immediately follows it really destroys any cohesion or momentum that the band might have had. The band kicks-starts the music but it has no immediate referent; a later track like “Chairman or The Nessie Alliance” really tones down the abstract, trying arrangements of prior time.

Of course, there are still the convoluted, overtly-technical lines that only a parent could love, but this track really does a lot to really tie together technicality with greater acceptability. Starting out “I Don’t Know How To Put This” with the smoother set of vocals, the minor guitar blurbs really take a much-appreciated backseat as the vocals become the main purveyors of emotion. Also of note during this track are the vital role that the drumming plays in creating a more constant intensity. When the band makes a wall of sound for tracks like “Part Time Gravedigger, Full Time Scumbag”, one can honestly gage their arrangements in context, instead of being blindsided by decontextualized guitar riffs and musical asides. The style of music that is played is the fusion of hardcore and emo that has been pushed the furthest by bands like The Heartland and Kane Hodder; each of the tracks here are just part of an almost too-cohesive whole.

Only the existence of innovative sounds, such as the all-in chorus of “James Caan Make Yourself At Home”, really punctuate the space between track and diminish the amount of ennui that listeners may have. What may be most of note during “A Few Easy Steps” are those tracks in which the band really allows their metal influences to peek out, whether it be the double-bass heavy drumline of “James Caan” or the Helloween meets Slayer guitar riffs of “Apres Moi Le Deluge”. The band may try to include more immediately-catchy riffs to increase their listener base; as it is, Grace Gale is a band that takes a tremendous amount of investment to really appreciate the dense arrangements and off-the-wall sound of the band.

Top Tracks: James Caan Make Yourself At Large, Part Time Gravedigger, Full Time Scumbag

Rating: 4.8/10

[JMcQ]