DOOMSDAYER'S HOLIDAY

This was my first foray into Grails, and I am very much on the fence about this album. The band essentially creates heavily-textured soundscapes full of studio and other effects, some of which compositions have more structure than others. And while many of the tracks are interesting, experimental and even creative, none of them are really compelling; i.e., the band does not seem to be adding anything to either instrumental prog or the soundscape "lexicon."

The opening track, Doomsdayer's Holiday (which is remarkably brief for a title track), is a bass- heavy, ultra-textured paranoid romp, beginning with some of the most unsettling screams I have ever heard on CD. Reincarnation Blues is okay, but probably the weakest track on the album. The Natural Man is a theme-y, film soundtrack-y composition, the main theme of which is definitely based on a known film theme (I just can't put my finger on it yet...). Immediate Mate is a comparatively wild, quasi-improvisational piece. Predestination Blues, a Middle Eastern-inflected composition, is the "straightest" uptempo track, and possibly the best. X-Contaminations is an eerie, hypnotic track full of odd effects of every stripe. Acid Rain is another film soundtrack-y cut. Oddly, although I liked most of the other tracks, the two theme-y ones are as successful, if not moreso, than some of the more experimental ones. (If they have not already done so, Grails could have a successful side career writing film theme and incidental music...)

Influences here are quite far-flung - from the blatantly Crimso-Floydian, to the soundtrack work of Vangelis and Tangerine Dream, to bits and pieces of Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Church, and even early Porcupine Tree.

Ultimately, my rating would be two-and-a-half stars, since I think it falls somewhere in between "for collectors only" and "good, but non-essential."

Still, I liked it enough to go out and purchase the album with the highest rating at PA (Burning Off Impurities). And in that regard..........(watch for my review......)