Release Date: April 20th 2023. Record Label: Salt Of The Earth Records. Formats: CD/DD
Blood Of Fools: Tracklisting
Separation Anxiety
Blood Of Fools
Senile Dementia
Unseen Reaper
Faith Healer
Members
Guitars: Greg Dawson and Chris "Hippy" Hughes"
Drums: Ryan Aubin and Kevin Farmer
Vocals: Doug McLarty and Daniel Allen
Bass: Mark Rand and Cory McCallum
Review
Doom/Stoner Metal underground heroes Olde and Grale have joined forces for a new musical project called Olde Grale and they're releasing their debut EP Blood Of Fools on 4/20 aka the WEEIDIAN Holy Day. If you're expecting a split EP then you'll sadly be mistaken. This is a new project where the band has doubled up on everything with the instrumentals and vocals department. So this is a band with two drummers, two bassists, two guitarists and two vocalists.
The EP is a mixture of Doom, Sludge, Stoner, Psych, Thrash and Death Metal leading the creative charge. You have both bands playing their own sound to a more extreme level in places. The music is constantly engaging with a vicious and ferocious sound to it which is brought to the party on the excellent opening track Separation Anxiety.
The song brings a Hardcore and Thrash based element to the party. The "twin effect" delivery is used superbly well with each band member getting the chance to the shine. The rhythm section is my favourite part of this track. As the drumming and bass work is simply sublime with the heavy pounding rhythms. The sludgy aggressive guitars has a certain early High On Fire quality to it but the dual vocals brings a sense of panic and gloomy heaviness to the EP that offers at small hints of further brutality along the way. There's a kick-ass melodic section where Olde Grale move further into Post-Whatever realms with parts of catchy melodic Psych Doom/Stoner Metal having an uplifting feel to it all.
Second song Blood Of Fools opens with a slightly Droned and Distorted guitar groove with the pounding drums bringing a more HEAVY METAL charge along the way. Vocals have a metallic and classic heavy metal approach to them. The guitars make the song what it is with thunderous DOOMY riffs that bring along what we all love about the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal scene that has a more atmospheric vibe. The lyrics blend themes from both Classic Heavy Metal and Modern Day Sludge/Stoner Metal with the band touching upon Psychedelic Metal and Post-Doom flourishes for the more restrained parts of the track.
Third song Senile Dementia is one of the most interesting tracks on the EP with Olde Grale using a classic style of almost Operatic Doom for the vocals that first appear. The riffs are forged from Thrash Metal and Sludge Metal that allows their music to be more focused. Olde Grale become part of the Extreme Metal crowd with a violent style of vocals, grooves and twisted lyrics. There's an Atmospheric and twisted Post-Stoner appetite on this track but becomes more thrilling when the band switch to Thrash Metal beat-downs and breakdowns. Definitely my favourite track on the EP.
The final two tracks Unseen Reaper and Faith Healer allow Olde Grale to play more distorted and dark creative visions especially with the more Droned out parts that appear on Unseen Reaper. The Thrash/Sludge Metal sounds brings that "Apocalyptic" or "End Of The World" vision the band have used for the majority of the EP.
The instrumental work and vocals perhaps feel more in unison here on this part of the EP with every part and aspect of the EP relying on each other to move onto the next engaging part. These two tracks are both nuanced and contain some of the best instrumental work and vocals contained on the EP.
Blood Of Fools is an EP that offers a bleak, cold and despairing vision which is what you need for an EP such as this. The main creative theme for the EP is bold and insightful. This allows both Olde and Grale to try new and exciting different things for the record whilst offering fans of both bands something familiar to fully embrace and even ROOT for.
Olde Grale have delivered an action packed spectacle with Blood Of Fools. The EP offers an Extreme style of Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal but if you're looking for fast-paced, aggressive and catchy grooves riffs then this is the real deal.
Hopefully we'll hear more from Olde Grale in the future.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe
Blood Of Fools is available to buy now on CD/DD via Salt Of The Earth Records.
Olde Links
Grale Links
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