This is the third album from UK post-metal band The Grey.
The Grey blend post-metal with stoner doom riffery and post-rock grace. Kodok spends 42 minutes building a variety of sonic soundscapes that are immersive and absorbing. Stylistically, we’re in the territory of acts such as Pelican, Red Sparowes, Mountain Caller, Russian Circles, Bossk, and similar, at least as a rough starting point for Kodok.
Kodok offers a feast for contemporary heavy music fans to absorb and digest, bolstered further by the guests on the album, some of which I’m familiar with, and some I’m not – Grady Avenell from Will Haven, Martin ‘Ace’ Kent from Skunk Anansie, Ricky Warwick from The Almighty, Chris Hargraves, (AKA fattybassman), and dARKMODE.
The music is textured, layered, and expressive. It’s instrumental at heart, except for key moments, when the vocals are wielded like a weapon, usually by someone who knows what they’re doing with a blade. The entire album flows like the single work it is, although Kodak is divided into six tracks, all of which are their own distinct entities.
Opener Painted Lady delivers a classic post-metal/rock soundtrack. It ripples with melody and shimmers with emotion, while bringing some stoner doom riffs along for the ride that’ll demolish the house. It’s almost 12 minutes of painting pictures with sound.
After that, we have La Bruja (Cygnus), which continues where its predecessor left off, only with a more urgent tone that turns tense and atmospheric about halfway through. Vocals soon make their first appearance. I don’t know who delivers them; they’re essentially spoken word, so not ideal, but are nowhere near as annoying as most spoken word is. It ends with ascending riffs that shake the speakers as they are unleashed.
Sharpen the Knife is up next, which features the singer of Will Haven bellowing his heart out as we like him to do. As you might expect, the energy levels are raised once more. It’s all jagged riffs and harsh vocals, but still makes time for building mood and presence. The mix of intensity and atmosphere works well.
After the last cut fades into ambient darkness the nine-minute CHVRCH, gradually builds with delicate resplendence. After a minute or so comes the crushing heaviness we all knew was going to make an appearance sooner or later, and it has brought along its friends – Big Riff and Big Atmosphere. The term doomgroove was coined for a song just like this. It also carries a grandeur that feels deeply woven into the roots of the material.
The shortest track is next – Don’t Say Goodbye. Thankfully, it’s not a disposable interlude though, but a heartfelt and fragile mood-piece. It also features the vocals of one Ricky Warwick, and as I used to love The Almighty, it’s great to hear his voice again.
The album closes with AFG, which I believe is where Martin Kent and Chris Hargraves make appearances. It launches with that infectious mix of melody, heaviness, and atmosphere that The Grey seem to do so well, with an added air of drama and intrigue.
Kodok is an enjoyable example of a band putting their own spin on the (mostly) instrumental post-metal/stoner doom template. The Grey have a vision for their music that’s compelling, and I find Kodok to be an easily enjoyable listen.
Highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 