Five years after providing the harsh solace of Mothers Weavers Vultures (review here) in the midst of a hellish plague winter, San Francisco’s Grayceon  will move forward July 25 with Then the Darkness, their sixth full-length. To be released through Translation Loss on vinyl and their own imprint, We Can Records (DL), I swear to you I’m not going to review the album in this post — I’m not ready and it’s stupid early — but what I’ll tell you is that its 11-song/81-minute run is absolutely all-in.

Whether you’re dug into the 20-minute “Mahsa” or the 13-minute “Forever Teeth,” which as a parent I definitely read as a song about lying to your kids for your own convenience/quality of life and feeling horrible about it — been there — the melodic roll and bite of “One Third” or the stately cello blastthrash and big-riff nod of “Song of the Snake,” Then the Darkness does not shy from being a tour de force of elements that have made this band so special all along. Cellist Jackie Perez Gratz has never sounded more soulful on vocals than in “Forever Teeth,” and the unabashedly sweet, folkish tinge brought to the penultimate “Untitled” feels like an adjustment to the balance of extremity and atmosphere that Grayceon have always managed to strike.

Of course, rhythms are fluid and change on a dime, with guitarist Max Doyle and drummer Zack Farwell as taut as ever whether a part is galloping at a sprint or subdued, ambient and gorgeous as many are. This would be expected of a Grayceon record by now, as the band marks 20 years since their inception as a group, but their intricate, individual and moving craft satisfies and is encompassing on a level all its own. It’s not a minor undertaking and it’s not supposed to be.

“Thousand Year Storm,” with the video by Gratz‘s bandmate in Brume, Jordan Perkins-Lewis, premiering below, is the opening track, and by no means does it speak for the entirety of the record, but it will give you a basic idea of some of the sounds they’re going for this time around in addition to making an enticing first impression for songs like “3 Points of Light” or the instrumental title-track that separates “Mahsa” and “Forever Teeth.” As a fan of the band, I appreciate the chance to host it.

Album info follows the quotes and cover below. Please enjoy:

Grayceon, “Thousand Year Storm” video premiere

“Thousand Year Storm is about breaking — crying out first in pain, then slowly coming to terms, and finally letting go. Like the rest of Then The Darkness, these songs sit in the aftermath — after the damage is done, when all you can do is try to make sense of what’s left and figure out how to keep going.” – Jackie Perez Gratz

“Death is always hard to deal with, but there can also be a comfort to it. The end is often a release of pain and struggle.” – Zack Farwell

Translation Loss Records is proud to announce Then the Darkness, the sprawling and gorgeous sixth full length from Bay-area progressive rockers, Grayceon.

Release date: July 25, 2025

Pre-order link: translationloss.com

Having meticulously plied their brand of expansive, progressive post metal since 2005, Grayceon have established themselves as a singular entity in the Bay Area scene and beyond. On full length album number six, Grayceon continue to mutate their unique sound and delve even further into the sonic abyss, creating a record of immense vision and gripping emotional peaks and valleys, one that’ll undoubtedly prove to be a cornerstone in their rich, storied history.

Then the Darkness presents Grayceon at their most haunting and visceral. On its eleven tracks, the non-traditional ‘power-trio’ composed of cellist/vocalist Jackie Perez Gratz (Giant Squid, Amber Asylum, etc.), guitarist Max Doyle and drummer Zack Farwell, create labyrinthine yet extremely memorable metallic compositions. Cello and guitar interplay and weave seamlessly to create boundless riffs and rhythms that bore into your psyche, leaving you humming its off-kilter melodies for the rest of the day. Perez Gratz’s vocals act as a guide through the maze of grief and other emotions; anguished shouts and screams give way to folkish singing and are capped off by moments of soaring vocal power. Then the Darkness was masterfully engineered, mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, etc.), whose natural and roomy production truly brings this powerful album to life.

Album Details:
Engineered, mixed and mastered at The Atomic Garden by Jack Shirley from December 2023 to June 2024.
Album art/design/photography: General LLC
Band photo: Jackie Perez Gratz
Video by Jordan Perkins-Lewis, San Francisco, CA.

Tracklist:
1. Thousand Year Storm
2. One Third
3. Velvet ‘79
4. 3 Points of Light
5. Mahsa
6. Then the Darkness
7. Forever Teeth
8. Song of the Snake
9. Holding Lines
10. Untitled
11. Come to the End

GRACEYON is:
Max Doyle (he/him) – guitar
Jackie Perez Gratz (she/her) – cello, voice
Zack Farwell (he/him) – drums

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Tags: California, Grayceon, Grayceon Then the Darkness, San Francisco, Then the Darkness, Translation Loss Records, We Can Records

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2025 at 11:26 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater, Whathaveyou. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.