Artist: Granite Skull
Title: I Won’t Rot, Here Like You
Type: Album
Label: Digital / Sokol Keep
“But it’s not Mausoleum Monday!” you cry. Nope. And it’s not dungeon synth either. Well not to someone who really likes the outline and reasoning proposed by Jordan Whiteman and who thrives on people endlessly creating equally valid and positive new subgenres like me (I still remember the revelation when someone at Terrorizer described some early Borknagar as ‘Post Norwegian Black Metal Weirdshit’ and I have cleaved to that genre ever since… yes I’m an idiot.) but in the case of Granite Skull, like CaveStalker for example but different, they are taking the vague DS starting point and doing what many many musicians do and just running with it and see where they end up. Which is just fantastic for music or any creative art.
It also means that for once I may mention something that doesn’t resonate with me so much but that regardless I know is a wonderful thing to do and try and WILL resonate with many many people.
Mournful synths and the sounds of battle for ‘An Empty Grave (Reclaim My Father’s Sword)’. A deep and regretful voice speaks to us, the battle lost to time. And then a rise; those brighter notes bringing not hope but a feeling of reverence for the fallen maybe? And then the guitar. Yes this is slow, epic sound; very metal, gathering speed into a gallop where the keyboards join it. The effect has so beautifully smoothly brought us out of dungeon synth into a kind of prog metal, a quest it seems written in the shifting music and the dexterous picked passages the twists on the path. The drumming begins to have just a touch of that semi trip-hop vibe that Arcturus did/do (who knows with them) so well. But Granite Skull are less chaotic, the guitar suffused with an introspective melody and a lovely bass line brought up high in the mix to great effect. The wonderful, perfectly woven transitions from DS to metal to prog is superb and makes this beautifully hard to pigeon-hole. And it is never too fussy; it holds you and takes you into places in your own mind.
‘I won’t Rot Here, Like You’ breathes life into itself with whsipers and synths and a curious, fascinating tribal drum rhythm. Ritual? Perhaps. The synths buzz and the horns rise to raise a dark, eerie atmosphere. This is rhythmic heaven; everything driven by the drums flicking between styles and back again.The the riff begins to chug. This is dark an ominous, again in absolute tandem with the drums with a chug and a skitter and a cranking up the weight and the tension. We hit a heavy EBM beat with metal guitars, the drums bristling and creeping around the edges of techno and my memory of Ultraviolence first album… but somehow keep hold of this grim, tribal feel.
‘Summoning The Technowizard’ sounds like a terrible idea to me. I mean, electric pointy hats? It begins so quietly though, soft steps with the keyboards and more gorgeous bass work – I could probably wax lyrical about how Granite Skull uses this and mixes it for hours. We carefully creep into some lovely prog coloured keyboard trills, but the guitar steps in. The drums become batter for a moment, the guitar heavey and then we break through, somehow. A portal opened. The world shifts around us and for me this is that wonderful prog space; it blossoms, each instrument having its turn but never losing the direction of travel the music has taken. There are no dead end noodling passages, it phases across prog into Hawkwind-esque space rock and trails out to a stoner sound. And yet this is absolutely one song. One beautifully crafted passage of progressive music.
As the title suggests ‘What’s In This Tea?’ gets…. trippy. Now I have to hold my hands up here; my spectrum brain and OCD combine to have a strange, irrational and involuntary habit of pushing back against some music. This music tracks swiftly and smoothly into the chill zone; a space of trance-like keyboards and bass, the rapid, light scuttling sound of techno beats and I have to force myself to focus which kind of defeats the point of such sounds. But once I do it is a strange and calm place. Smooth, and yes relaxing. And it is nice to see this being a place the music can go to without seeming jarring. The short ‘Your Skull Will Make A Fine Trophy’ is a skittering babble of techno and guitar runs, bubbling with energy and a curious humour I find. Like goblins on dubious substances getting hit by a blinding light show.
‘A Shortcut Through The Forest’ brings those scuttling steps with the drumming again that rapid scamper between a kind of techno and trip-hop shuffle as the keyboards remain sedate, a little glimpse of the trees, the animals, looking on as you try and get through this place as quickly and safely as possible. It genuinely raises a smile with me, like watching a hobbit trying to get through, his heart a chip-tune beat, as it seems the danger creeps closer despite those fast little feet.
‘By My Hand, This Kingdom’ seems to find us still in these dark woods. The sounds may be animals…. or trolls. The bass line my heart. The guitar strikes up a malevolent, gleeful sound. It gets chaotic, percussion dancing around and frantic guitars. And yet it comes out of this into some fine metal, a driving riff for a strange kingdom indeed. A perfect end to a gloriously unhinged track. And album.
This is such an imaginative album and full of exploration. It takes dungeon synth as little more than a launch pad to dart through other realms and style with consummate ease whilst still telling those tales that we love. I freely admit my ability to listen to techno/trance is minimal but here, mixing it in with so much else and instead of making an incomprehensible melange, Granite Skull producing complexity and coherence and accessibility, with a nice side order of humour is so damned awesome.
Be adventurous. Take a trip. This kind of music needs to be celebrated. Progressive dungeon FTW.
Gizmo
Granite Skull – I Won’t Rot Here, Like You | Progressive Dungeon | Granite Skull | SOKOL KEEPetal
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