{"id":32167,"date":"2025-07-29T23:28:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T23:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/32167\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T23:28:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T23:28:09","slug":"grayceon-then-the-darkness-bandcamp-daily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/32167\/","title":{"rendered":"Grayceon, \u201cThen The Darkness\u201d | Bandcamp Daily"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/daily.bandcamp.com\/album-of-the-day\" class=\"franchise\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ALBUM OF THE DAY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>        Grayceon, \u201cThen The Darkness\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By <\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/daily.bandcamp.com\/contributors\/jr-moores\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">JR Moores<\/a><\/p>\n<p>        \u00b7<br \/>\n        July 29, 2025<\/p>\n<p>\u200b<\/p>\n<p>    <img data-bind=\"attr: { 'src': bigPlayerArtURL }\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u200b<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s surprising there isn\u2019t a greater number of heavy bands that have space for a full-time cellist. The instrument, however uncommon, slots into traditional metal remarkably well, especially when amplified or distorted. Its dark, rich tone and versatile range act as a buffer against the downtuned guitars and teeth-clenching percussion, while simultaneously reinforcing the music\u2019s overarching tension. Cellos in metal are not without precedent\u2014Metallica hosted shows backed by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, two of which were released as live albums, and the Finnish symphonic metal band Apocalyptica has three classically trained cellists in their ranks\u2014but for the most part, they\u2019re restricted to cameos.<\/p>\n<p>Few bands embody that underutilized synergy more than <a href=\"https:\/\/grayceon.bandcamp.com\/music\" data-clickthrough=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Grayceon<\/a>, a long-running Bay Area power trio led by cellist and vocalist Jackie Perez Gratz. Across two decades and five albums, the band (completed by guitarist Max Doyle and drummer Zack Farwell) have consistently leveraged the cello, and by extension, heavy music\u2019s affinity for classical music, to craft epic, expansive post-metal that occasionally draws on traditional Middle Eastern sounds. They continue that legacy on their sixth record, <a href=\"https:\/\/grayceon.bandcamp.com\/album\/then-the-darkness\" data-clickthrough=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Then The Darkness<\/a>: a 79-minute masterclass on how to forge strings into instruments of power capable of outshining the competition.<\/p>\n<p>Range is a key factor in any album\u2019s success, and downright non-negotiable whenever dealing with big, complex, hour-plus affairs like Grayceon\u2019s; fortunately, the band have the flexibility and fluidity needed to go the distance. Catchy tracks like \u201cVelvet \u201879\u201d and \u201cHolding Lines\u201d nod to Metallica\u2019s rowdy, (and underrated) mid-\u201990s period, while \u201cOne Third\u201d weds Alice In Chains harmonies to fuzzy stoner riffs \u00e0 la <a href=\"https:\/\/relapsealumni.bandcamp.com\/album\/leviathan\" data-clickthrough=\"true\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mastodon<\/a>. Penultimate track \u201cUntitled,\u201d by contrast, is a stripped-down pastoral folk piece elevated by Doyle\u2019s gnashed guitars in a sudden eruption three minutes in.<\/p>\n<p>The orchestral cello treatment reinforces the cathartic nature of Then The Darkness, complementing its lyrical themes of loss, conflict, deceit, illness, death, and grief. And yet, the experience is far from bleak or despairing. \u201cIs this all there is\/ Just a bunch of war and fighting?\u201d bellows Gratz during the record\u2019s final verses. The implication, of course, is that there can be much more than that, especially if we put our minds to it\u2014and maybe add some strings.<\/p>\n<p>\n        NOW PLAYING<br \/>\n        PAUSED\n    <\/p>\n<p>        <img data-bind=\"attr: { 'src': currentTrack().smallArtURL }\"\/><\/p>\n<p> by <\/p>\n<p>\n            .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALBUM OF THE DAY Grayceon, \u201cThen The Darkness\u201d By JR Moores \u00b7 July 29, 2025 \u200b \u200b It\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-32167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}