feature photo: Dominika Michalowska
Thrash jazz in the proud, Little Women tradition, the dauntless trio GRID has now become serial murderers of pretty music with their second release, Decomposing Force. Matt Nelson (saxophone), Tim Dahl (bass guitar) and Nick Podgurski (drums) made quite an impression — on us, at least — with their 2017 self-titled debut, described then as “dirge excursions down the dark, cold back alleys behind the small area where metal and jazz coincide.”
If anything, Decomposing Force goes even further outside the realm of ‘normal’ because Dahl and Nelson often summon Lucifer to wring some truly frightening noises from their instruments (with effects) ; Podgurski’s drums are often the most orderly thing going on in spite of the fact that Podgurski isn’t even keeping time.
“Brutal Kings” goes just as machine gun jazz improv is expected to go but then Dahl rapidly thrums his bass and Nelson’s sax morphs into a sound truly evil. It’s some kind of effects applied, that makes the horn closely mimic a heavy metal guitar. That’s only a preview of what’s to come: on “Nythynge” Nelson and Dahl make their instrumental resemble the roaring and growling of large zoo animals and sometimes you can hear the ghost of Black Sabbath struggling to break through the din.
There are some unrelenting sonic pummelings, sure, but it’s not without its ambient moments. “The Weight of Literacy” begins with a distant, smoldering buzz nowadays called ‘doom jazz’ and Nelson’s mutant sax gradually builds up thickness until there’s nothing ‘ambient’ at all about this song, just a monstrous, slow-moving sludge. Nelson and Dahl are virtually indistinguishable from each other as they explore feedback-heavy timbres and ringing, reverberating drones together for “Cold Seep.”
GRID doesn’t make music suitable for most moods, and they never set out to do that. But when you’re up for improvisation that’s sinister, angry and capable of cleansing your musical palette of the “same ol’ same ol'”, ain’t nothing else will do.
Decomposing Force drops on April 24, 2020, by NNA Tapes
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