A very cool (but oddly pricey, these things are the most expensive 7"s we've ever picked up for Crucial Blast) limited edition 7" featuring one lengthy song each from two up-and-coming progressive metalloid outfits, Giant Squid and Grayceon.

Giant Squid open things up with "Sutter's Fort", the last song that was written with the founding lineup of the band and recorded back in 2006. It's one of the best jams that I've heard from Giant Squid so far, a massive winding lament weighted down with sludgy metallic power, streaked by the angelic croon of Aurielle Zeitler and her weeping cello. Her voice is joined by that of singer/guitarist/synth player Aaron Gregory, who veers from harsh, feral screams to a wavering, warbling singing voice that sounds eerily similiar to Serj Tankian from System Of A Down and a raspy, Tom Waits-ish mumble. The sprawling song moves from crushing Neurosis-ian dirge with cyclical organ sounds to churning thrash and haunting strains of Amber Asylum-style dark chamber rock...the same recipe that the band executed so wonderfully on their criminally overlooked album Metridium Fields. Giant Squid aren't breaking new ground with their arty, atmospheric sound, but I sure do love it.

This is the first that I've heard of Grayceon, and their song "The West" is certainly an interesting taste of what this band is doing. Jackie Perez Gratz from Amber Asyloum plays in this band, and she brings her haunting electric cello to the fore of Grayceon's weird mix of complex baroque thrash metal and dark chamber rock. It's a perfect counterpart to Giant Squid's song. "The West" drapes haunting strings and folky finger-picked guitar over chunky, galloping thrash riffage and angular dirges, like a weird fusion of Mastodon, Bay Area thrash, King Crimson and Apocalyptica, sort of. Great stuff, and I'll definitely be checking out more from this band.

The copies of this 7" that we have in stock are on "sand" colored wax, and are limited to 250 copies.