Grone - Grovel/Stains and Omissions
Gomek Records - GOMEK 03 - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
Slow-grinding industrial metal act
Grone have been going a long time, and haven't really reached the kind of audience that material as relentless as theirs deserves. Sounding like a slow motion pile-up between
Godflesh,
Soulfly and
Ministry, there's little doubt that the thunderous, slow-burning riffage and clanging industrial soundscapes that collide with pounding drums and drum-and-bass electronics would hardly go over well with a festival crowd, but the fact that
Grone have gone unsigned for so long is a shame.
This is another Gomek Records release, meaning you can download the whole thing for free from the Gomek website, and it consists of
Grone's two most recent records before their hiatus in 2003 - 99's
Grovel and 95's
Stains and Omissions. The latter showcases a more pared-down and organic sound, lighter on the industrial elements but full of dissonant, reverb-drenched guitarwork and nightmarishly heavy riff-trawls. The more recent tracks add to that template more frantic drum-and-bass rhythms and more of a groove to the rumbling, bass heavy sound. Both halves of the record suffer from the songs going on a bit too long, however - songs with such a determinedly down-tempo pace tend to lose the listener's attention (although a well-placed blastbeat in opening track 'Homestead' serves to wake up those flagging early).
Grovel/Stains and Omissions is a difficult record to listen to in its entirety - not because of bad songwriting, but mainly because of the homogeny of the songs. When everything on the disc (or in the MP3 folder, if you prefer) is a slow, grinding, heavy,
Godflesh-worshipping trawl, it's easy to seek out something else to listen to. However, that would be doing the band a disservice. Keep your attention on the way the song structures lurch and twist and the care that has been taken over their construction becomes more readily apparent. One for fans of classic
Godflesh.
6.5/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Gomek Records Website
