Grave Speaker- Rays Of The Emerald Sun
Release Date: May 16th, 2025
Electric Valley Records
Grave Speaker is a Massachusetts based psych-stoner-doom project of John Steele. On his second fuzzed-out incantation of wickedness, he conjures a black-hearted tribute to all-things gloom. Within the six tracks on, "Rays Of The Emerald Sun" he creates a combination of classic doom and vintage stoner rock tightly encompassed by a thick shroud of colorful tones. Despite not straying too far from the mold preset by his predecessors, John captures the essence of his chosen genre well. One of my favorite aspects of Grave Speaker is that amazing and rather juicy guitar tone. Specifically representing this for me is the 5th track, "Bones and Steel" with its opening riff. The second the track begun I was instantly drawn in. In addition to all things sonically dense on here there is even the addition of organ utilized on the ending track, "Tower". It is interlaced well with dueling lead bluesy guitar lines creating a neat atmosphere this style is known for. I believe It also makes for a great ending track to the album. It leads everyone out with an almost jam-session quality that I find exciting. Vocally, John chooses to go the route of a distorted voice melodically embedding itself into the music through his despondent delivery. Grave Speaker finds its competence in a raw simplicity that adds effectively to its heaviness. After numerous times through this album I highly recommend it for fans of doom and stoner-rock. Check it out!
gravespeaker.bandcamp.com
evrecords.bandcamp.com
Release Date: May 16th, 2025
Electric Valley Records
Grave Speaker is a Massachusetts based psych-stoner-doom project of John Steele. On his second fuzzed-out incantation of wickedness, he conjures a black-hearted tribute to all-things gloom. Within the six tracks on, "Rays Of The Emerald Sun" he creates a combination of classic doom and vintage stoner rock tightly encompassed by a thick shroud of colorful tones. Despite not straying too far from the mold preset by his predecessors, John captures the essence of his chosen genre well. One of my favorite aspects of Grave Speaker is that amazing and rather juicy guitar tone. Specifically representing this for me is the 5th track, "Bones and Steel" with its opening riff. The second the track begun I was instantly drawn in. In addition to all things sonically dense on here there is even the addition of organ utilized on the ending track, "Tower". It is interlaced well with dueling lead bluesy guitar lines creating a neat atmosphere this style is known for. I believe It also makes for a great ending track to the album. It leads everyone out with an almost jam-session quality that I find exciting. Vocally, John chooses to go the route of a distorted voice melodically embedding itself into the music through his despondent delivery. Grave Speaker finds its competence in a raw simplicity that adds effectively to its heaviness. After numerous times through this album I highly recommend it for fans of doom and stoner-rock. Check it out!
gravespeaker.bandcamp.com
evrecords.bandcamp.com