Release Date: April 14th 2023. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD/Vinyl
Gnarwhal - Gnarwhal: Tracklisting
1.Faultline 03:01
2.Shadows Fading 03:21
3.The Outlier - Album Version 02:48
4.Sleepwalkers 03:42
5.Let It Out 02:31
6.Untethered and Weightless 03:51
7.Deep Spaced - Album Version 03:01
8.Burden of Proof 03:41
9.Ember Sky Ash 05:23
Review
Gnarwhal self-titled debut album is one that moves along at its own Fuzzed Out Stoner pace with its style of Hard Rock and slightly Doom tinged grooves. Taking cues from bands such as Mastodon, The Sword, Elder and King Buffalo, these guys walk a fine line between Classic and Modern day Stoner sensibilities especially with the Proggy Spaced out vibes.
The album is quite compact, running around thirty one minutes and the band are quite adept at playing fast-paced Psych Tinged grooves that have a high amount of FUZZ based heaviness lurking in the backgrounds. The music is refreshing and wholly addictive with Gnarwhal playing a fast paced style of music which is used to great effect on the opening tracks Faultline, Shadows Fading and The Outliner. The songs are quite melodic with a slight dark Stoner/Fuzz edge which comes into play mostly on Shadows Fading. However, these three songs showcase how the band have a deep understanding for the Fuzz/Doom/Stoner based scenes.
The vocals are quite refreshing to hear even when they move from clean based vocals to harsher growls which was a cool surprise. There’s a HEAVY METAL beast waiting to escape from the cleaner grooves that Gnarwhal plays here and when it does escape from its cage then Gnarwhal becomes a more exciting creative unit.
There’s also a subtle Alternative Rock/Metal approach on certain parts of this album with the band taking a slightly different direction or diversion on certain parts of the album. However, the album is mostly a first rate Fuzz/Doom/Stoner Metal adventure with elements of Heavy Psychedelics and Gloomy Rock.
The lyrics are first rate which has a great storytelling vibe to the album which takes me back to the classic era of 1990’s Grunge, Stoner and Alt Rock scenes. When hearing the album you can tell that Gnarwhal have put a lot of creative effort, time and thought on this album, which allows this to be a richer listening experience. The album is full of wicked grooves and riffs which move ever slightly further into the areas of “Post-Doom” or “Post-Stoner” on tracks such as Sleepwalkers, Untethered And Weightless, Burden Of Proof and my favourite track Ember Sky Ash.
Sure, the album could have included a couple more songs to make it last that little bit longer. However, that doesn’t stop Gnarwhal being a highly impressive listen from start to finish that offers some highly original sounds along the way.
The record also benefits from super-fresh production values that makes it wonderfully modern and allows the music to be quite powerful for Gnarwhal to impress the underground scene with. Gnarwhal have released a first-rate album here and I’m excited to see what the band will release next.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe.
Links
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