What does Grant The Sun sound like?

Melodic prog-metal infused into crunchy post-rock.

The review of Grant The Sun – Voyage

Norwegian trio Grant The Sun had never incorporated vocals into their music before. Following three EPs, Grant The Sun finally felt comfortable enough to sprinkle them among the guitars. With this new confidence, ‘Voyage’, their debut album, is their most complete work to date.

‘Voyage’ is a 40-minute exploration through various different slices of melodic rock. Each song seems to take on a lead guitar style in a different way. ‘Blue Desert’ is enriched with a driving guitar that’s so zippy, I thought it was a razor synth to begin with. It’s bombastic and heavy at the same time as if we are setting off on an expedition. Lethargic drums and guitar strums where every string pluck can be felt make each sound feel larger than usual. The vocals echo in the distance – the guitar virtuoso is centre stage for this track. Instead, we veer into post-rock gazing for the superb ‘Machina’. This is a more traditional song structure but metal-infused guitar riffs chug away at speed whilst rich glassy guitar overtones shimmer on top. Add in some rage screams and hazy verses and you’ve got a fabulous song.

‘Death Is Real’ has a spluttering, choppy riff that sounds like the high notes are trying to escape the bass’s sodden chugs underneath. It’s a riff you can’t help but move to. That visceral chug remains but transforms into a platform for epic guitar solos in ‘Mariana’. Its mid-low tempo swing lets the track unravel and slither around like it’s searching for a home. It isn’t as immediate as the previous tracks, but the guitar chops are impressive. ‘Vertigo’ moves into full metal mode from its prog edges, whilst ‘Hits Like A Wave’ takes similar riffs but lays ethereal spoken word passages over them. I’m not sure where we’ve travelled to but the spoken word interludes come across like public transport announcements.

The closing two tracks offer different ends of Grant The Sun’s musical spectrum. ‘Seadevil’ is a sludgy metal anthem where all the instruments move together as one army. It is a track that builds its momentum for a satisfying finale, but the closing track then takes everything up a notch. Bravely, the song is named after the band. Thankfully, I’d argue it’s the best track on the album. Moving from heavy metal riffs, to prog-rock spacy moments and spasmodic flurries of guitars to a post-rock explosion to round the track off – this song is cinematic and cataclysmic. It puts the best of Grant The Sun into five minutes of metal-infused post-rock and the trio let rip.

Whilst I felt some tracks blended into each other a bit too much due to having very similar riffs, it’s clear Grant The Sun has buckets of talent. The album flows excellently as an audio journey and experience and the vocals deliver a needed layer of upper frequency to the visceral low-end chug. The album is also incredibly loud compared to other releases too which I love – it’s made to be played loud. If you enjoy largely instrumental metal and unusual guitar production taking the lead melody sometimes, ‘Voyage’ is definitely an album worth exploring. Lovers of a low end will enjoy the bone-shaking bass tones too.

Recommended track: Grant The Sun

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