Hymnal

Grails is an American instrumental experimental rock band. "Chalice Hymnal" is sixth full-length release for the Portland, Oregon post-rock band. This is kinkiest record to date but that doesn’t mean there ain’t an underlying poignant melancholy to their chameleonic offerings, just like that sadness behind the eyes of the man who’s been carnally distracted from fixing the kitchen appliance.

Rather than pick up where they left off, Grails take the sky-high riff-based heaviness of their earlier albums and distill it into a nuanced, widescreen opus. The perennial influences of mid-20th century Western film scores, obscure library music, and psychedelic krautrock are indelibly imprinted, but Chalice Hymnal exudes an eerie patience in unfurling the many layers of its subtle details. Produced by the band over the past five years, Chalice Hymnal bears some of the European psych and experimental hip-hop production techniques of founding members Alex Hall and Emil Amos' other group, Lilacs & Champagne.