OMNIPRESENCE

"Omnipresence" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Russian, Saint-Petersburg based stoner metal act The Grand Astoria. The album was self-released in January 2011. The Grand Astoria was formed in 2009 and relased their self- titled debut full-length studio album later the same year.

The Grand Astoria play quite the eclectic style of music on "Omnipresence". While the band certainly have their stoner metal elements down, they also incorporate elements from thrash, psychadelia, and punk in their music and actually make it work pretty well. The band are well playing, the album is pretty well produced, and the songs are rather intriguing. I like how the band combine heavy stoner metal grooves with melodic faster paced thrashy riffing. The punky vocals are probably an aquired taste and personally I think they are the weak link in the chain. They are not horrible or anything like that, just a bit one- dimensional and delivered within a limited range. With a more interesting and varied vocalist the music on "Omnipresence" could have been slightly more enjoyable.

...as the album is, I´m still pretty impressed by what these guys are able to produce and I´m sure fans of the more adventurous and energetic stoner metal style will greatly enjoy the album. "Omnipresence" deserves a 3.5 star (70%) rating.