Photo by: Christoffer Rosenfeldt
Official press release:
Gradience will unleash their Anomaly full-length on September 4th via Metal Blade Records!
On the debut LP from this shrewdly named Danish duo, the usually clear-cut boundary between apocalyptic, sludgy blackened death metal and dark urban trap-rap is thrillingly pulverized. Lines of musical convention are further blurred by disarmingly emotive and intimate vocal lines, and a vibrant sound picture heaving with glacial synths and hypnotic sonic details. At first, it might daunt and confuse those who like their boundaries clear-cut, but at the heart of Gradience‘s brash and radical new sound is an authentic and heartwarming new friendship. In 2022, guitarist Jakob Lærke Harris and vocalist Gavin Mistry struck up an immediate creative rapport at a Copenhagen show for local deathcore heroes Cabal. Although from very different backgrounds – Harris a visual artist and musician playing in “a popcore band,” Mistry a main player “in different hip-hop constellations” – they quickly found common ground in an area both were keen to explore.
Both men spent years working in various artistic collaborations, but Gradience audibly generates real “planets aligning” energy. The tension and turbulence of Harris’ extreme metal growl finds counterintuitive new context alongside Mistry’s fierce rhythms and rhymes, further enlivened by the spontaneous crackle to the performances – not least drummer Frederik Kjelstrup Hansen’s and bassist Patrick Petersen’s hammering rhythm section. Also evident is an exploratory zeal and playful curiosity that dovetailed organically for both parties. Jakob shares:
“When we began writing together, we suddenly found songwriting to be straightforward. We knew from the get-go we wanted to write metal and do something completely new that we hadn’t heard before and at the same time write music we felt we needed to hear. That was our only goal and focus: writing music for ourselves.”
Although musically Gradience is a beautifully balanced partnership, Mistry handles all lyrics, and song titles like “Vermin”, “Agony”, “Blame Me”, and “Deathwish” attest to the bleak darkness seething beneath the choice rhymes and voluble flow. Mistry affirms:
“Lyrically, I tend to write from my own experiences and emotions. As an immigrant in Denmark, I have lived and received my fair share of pushback and challenges. From a young age, I have practiced writing about my thoughts and feelings – either as poetry or diary entries. It’s been a way for me to cope with the feeling of being alone and misunderstood – pretty much all my teen years. The album’s lyrical themes can be experienced as me reflecting on past, present and future truths and/or lies that have been important for me to deal with.”
He notes of their latest single:
“‘White Noise’ is one of our more experimental and unpredictable tracks on the album. The lyrics also reflect that same unpredictability; that I can find myself being confrontational and extroverted, but at the same time need solitude to cope with everything. The spoken word at the end is me reflecting on that introverted side of myself.”
Anomaly will be released on CD, LP, and digital formats. Find pre-orders at MetalBlade.com/Gradience.
Anomaly track listing:
- “Vermin”
- “Blame Me”
- “Agony”
- “Master To The Slave”
- “Stains”
- “Deathwish”
- “Slow”
- “Undone”
- “A Witness”
- “White Noise”
- “Grimey Potential”
