Considering that I like to think I know a little bit about being in the know when it comes to new and emerging bands, Norway’s Grant the Sun surprised me by literally coming out of nowhere with their self-titled, debut EP. Maybe I’m getting old or maybe there are just too many fucking bands out there, but despite how closely I follow grind provocateurs, Beaten to Death it was a little on the odd side that I didn’t see Grant the Sun turning up. That’s because the trio features B2D guitarist Martin Rygge alongside Havard Sveberg (both formerly of Insense). The pair are joined by second guitarist and childhood pal, Markus Johnsen.
The band play a luxuriously instrumental combination of post-rock and melodic metal that swirls together the sounds of darkness and triumph. Comparisons abound to the likes of Devin Townsend, Extol, Meshuggah, Animals as Leaders, Explosions in the Sky and The Ocean, all of which are viable but also up for debate. Today, we give you the opportunity to see/hear for yourself. The band’s new EP is entitled Simmar Ur Bild – which Google informs translates to “Swim out of the Picture” – and they’ve gone ahead and made YouTube clips for each of the record’s four songs and given us permission to throw one of the them up here for your listening pleasure.
Says Sveberg about the new EP: “The new songs were recorded live at Dug Out Studios in Uppsala with Danne Bergstrand and mastered by Lawrence Macrory at Obey Mastering. This time around we found that distortion was overrated. Maybe to distance ourselves a bit from the obvious. Let’s rethink what most metal bands do. The songs on this ep came together with an idea to give Mick a bit more space solo-wise. Solos are so cool when done right, and Mick sure knows how to bring ‘em.”
Simmar Ur Bild is our November 30th on Mas-Kina Recordings.
Grant the Sun on Facebook
