Grajo: A Spanish Diamond of Doom.

I discover lots of underground bands from different places on my facebook page, new bands, old bands, rare bands, most of them awesome bands but when I heard “Grajo”  for the first time I thought I shouldn’t let them go. They have become in one of my favorites new doom bands in the world. These guys raised in Spain, mix a powerful and melodic female voice with slow, sludgy guitars, plus a beautiful but at the same time sinister and dark atmosphere on their songs that will make you feel transported to another place. 

We’re living a time in Heavy Metal, specifically in Doom Metal where isn’t very hard to meet amazing female fronted bands, we can easily recognize Windhand, Witch Mountain, Kylesa, etc. All of them are magnificent on their own way, every one different to the other, but when we talk about genuineness and sincerity in a very fresh way I can say Grajo has it all and that's something very hard to find in a new band. 

They just released their first Single “Feeding our Demons” last week and I had the pleasure of making an interview to this promising band.
P.S. Si quieres leer la versión original de la entrevista (en español) pulsa el scroll hasta el final del artículo.

English Version.

Q: Tell us about the beginning of Grajo.

A: Well, we could say that the band was born in 2014, but suffered several departures of members and it was not until 2015 that we found some stability after spending half the year working as a two-piece band . That same summer we met Liz, who originally was only going to sing in one track as a guess, but we liked the result so much that we offered her to remain as a permanent member. Later came our drummer A.J and that’s the current line-up to date.

Q: How came the idea of inviting a female singer to the band?

A: Actually I think we always looked for a girl's voice, it was something that attracted us very much from the start and Liz quickly surpassed all our expectations. Isn’t very common to hear a girl with her voice in a band like this and I think the result was really good.

Q: What do the lyrics talk about? What is the songs’s concept in Grajo?

A: Liz always tries to write heartbreaking lyrics, like powerful poems as the music and messages that can penetrate deep. From sinister and fantastic stories, to real experiences that anyone may feel identified, we like to be clear and strong in the images we want to convey.

Q. Tell us about the band’s musical influences.

A: After hearing so much music, I don't know what can influence us more. We don't listen just a single genre, we can enjoy death metal, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, sludge, Andalusian rock ... Of course we hear new bands and obviously all of us love Black Sabbath as hell. How not to love them?

Q. How would you define the style of Grajo?

A: We don’t like to put limitations when we’re gonna work. If there’s something in common in all of our compositions, is a very powerful rhythm section, atmospheres full of reverb and the elegance that Liz prints to all songs, but if you have to put a label for the listener to know what it’s about, perhaps it would be Stoner / Doom ..?

Q. You guys are now on recording process. Tell us more about it!

A: Yes, last September we went to record with Raúl Pérez (La Mina Estudios) a track for a Split with a big band of Andalusian Rock that will be published in 2016. We are eager to unveil and share it. We are currently working on what will be our Lp, which we will start to record in March. To do this we will have Raul again, because we feel really happy with the previous result.

Q. Any preview of this new material?

A: Like I said before, if everything goes well, we are gonna share it on the street soon, it will come only on vinyl and because of that it carries a considerable time to finish it. About the Lp we will put one of the new songs in demo version soon (It's very funny for us to record those rehearsals), we like to show to the people what we are doing and see what they think about it.

Q. Finally. What do you think of the Doom and Stoner scene? In Spain and worldwide.

A: Well, this question gives to stretch into infinity. Talking about the Spanish scene ... Amazing! Honestly! The quality of the bands is brutal, on top with any other zone in the world, just look works such as Horn of the Rhino, Hela, Pyramidal, Orthodox, Atavismo, Santo Rostro, Aathma and a long etc. . to realize it. I see a scene that's becoming recognized, strong and growing, with labels and specialized distributors who are doing an amazing job. Worldwide it’s exactly the same, is not difficult to hear bands from the most remote places sounding pretty good. I’m sure that the spirit, the will and creativity it will always be on the underground, and it doesn't matter where you are, I think without being the best, we are living a very good time musically.

Thank you very much Arnaldo and Doom Of The Stone Lord for the support received.

Josef.

                                               

                                                      Single: "Feeding our Demons"

                                                      
                                                      Demo single: "Golden Cemetery"

Official Links

www.facebook.com/grajorockband

www.grajo.bandcamp.com



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Versión Original en Español.

P. Cuéntennos acerca de los inicios de Grajo.

R. Bueno, podríamos decir que la banda se gestó en 2014, pero sufrimos varias salidas de miembros y  no es hasta 2015 cuando encontramos cierta estabilidad, después de pasar la mitad de ese año trabajando como dúo. Ese mismo verano conocimos a Liz, que en un principio solo iba a colaborar en un tema de la demo, pero el resultado nos gustó tanto que le ofrecimos quedarse como miembro. Más tarde entraría A.J. a la batería quedando así la formación actual hasta la fecha.

P. ¿Cómo surgió la idea de colocar una voz femenina en Grajo?

R. En realidad creo que siempre buscamos a una chica para la voz, era algo que nos atraía bastante desde el principio aunque Liz supero rápidamente todas nuestras expectativas. No es muy habitual escuchar a una chica con su timbre en una banda de este tipo y creo que el resultado es realmente bueno.

P. ¿Cuál es la temática principal de sus letras?

R. Liz intenta siempre que sus letras sean desgarradoras, busca poemas potentes como la música y mensajes que puedan calar profundo. Van desde relatos siniestros, fantásticos o vivencias con las que cualquiera se podría sentir identificado, nos gusta ser claros y contundentes en las imágenes que queremos transmitir.

P. Cuéntame acerca de sus influencias musicales.

R. Después de haber consumido tantísima música no se ya muy bien que es lo que más puede influenciarnos. No escuchamos un solo estilo, death metal, rock progresivo, psicodélico, sludge, rock andaluz…Por supuesto escuchamos bandas actuales y está claro que todos mamamos de Black Sabbath, ¿cómo escapar de ello?

P. ¿Cómo definirían el estilo de Grajo?

R. No nos gusta demasiado ponernos ninguna limitación a la hora de trabajar. Si hay algo en común a lo largo de todas las composiciones es una sección rítmica muy potente, atmósferas cargantes llenas de reverb y la elegancia que imprime Liz a cada una de ellas,  pero si hay que poner alguna etiqueta para que el oyente sepa de qué se trata, tal vez sería Stoner/Doom…?

P. Se encuentran actualmente en proceso de grabación. Cuéntenme más acerca de ello.

R. Sí, el pasado mes de septiembre entramos a grabar con Raúl Pérez (La Mina) un tema para un compartido con una gran banda de rock andaluza. Será editado en 2016 y el cual estamos ansiosos por desvelar y compartir. Actualmente nos encontramos trabajando en lo que será nuestro lp, que entraremos a grabar a principios de Marzo. Para ello volveremos a contar con Raúl, ya que quedamos realmente contentos con el resultado obtenido anteriormente.

P. ¿Saldrá pronto algún adelanto de este nuevo material?

R. Como te comentaba antes, si todo va bien, tendremos el compartido en la calle pronto, saldrá solo en vinilo y ello conlleva un retraso de tiempo bastante considerable. Sobre el lp colgaremos alguno de los temas nuevos en versión demo en breve (nos divierte muchísimo grabar estas maquetas pre estudio), nos gusta que la gente sepa qué andamos haciendo y que puedan opinar.

P. Por último ¿Cómo ven la escena tanto española como mundial de Stoner/Doom metal?

R. Bueno, esta pregunta da para extenderse hasta el infinito. La escena española…pues increíble la verdad, la calidad de las bandas es brutal, a la altura de la de cualquier otra zona, solo hay que mirar trabajos como los de Horn of the Rhino, Hela, Pyramidal, Orthodox, Atavismo, Santo Rostro, Aathma y un larguísimo etc. para darse cuenta de ello. Veo una escena que empieza a ser reconocida, fuerte y creciendo, con sellos y distribuidoras especializadas que están haciendo un trabajo increíble. A nivel mundial exactamente igual, no resulta difícil escuchar bandas de los sitios más recónditos y que suenen bastante bien. Aun así, el espíritu, las ganas y la creatividad están siempre en el underground, y no importa mucho de donde seas,  creo que sin ser la mejor, sí que estamos viviendo una buena época musicalmente hablando.

Muchas gracias a Arnaldo y al equipo de Doom of the Stone Lord por todo el apoyo recibido.

Josef.

Enlaces web de la Banda:

www.facebook.com/grajorockband

www.grajo.bandcamp.com

Meet "With The Dead" and a short album review by "Doom Of The Stone Lord"

With the dead (2014): Were formed in the U.K by the founding rythm section of occultist doom band Electric Wizard guitarist/bassist Tim Bagshaw (also a current member of Serpentine Path) and drummer Mark Greening, a pair once notorious for the sheer brute heaviness of their bowel-shaking sound and early extra-curricular activities that involved excess, injury and low-level criminality (arrests for the theft of a crucifix from a church roof and drunkenly robbing an off-licence to name but two). Both have also played together in Ramesses. Completing the triangle is frontman Lee Dorrian, co-founder of Doom pioneers Cathedral, former frontman with grindcore legends Napalm Death and owner of Rise Above Records, the UK’s finest independent purveyors of all sounds heavy and underground.

WTD released last month their debut release, putting on history a direct and devastating sound. The monsterriffs on it, Greening's drum style, Dorrian's old school vocal performance, the whole concept and lyrics made the record just perfect and one of the Best 2015 Doom Metal releases.  

The single "Living With The Dead" and their first official video "Crown Of Burning Stars" were the perfect teaser to keep us waiting this monster record. Other tracks like "The Cross" or "I Am Your Virus" will make you feel that your life is so decrepit, decadent and "Screams From My Own Grave" (I think is my favorite... Fuck it's so DOOM). This is an old school, short, direct and crushing album I highly recommend... 

With The Dead - With The Dead (Tracklist) 

1. Crown Of Burning Stars 
2. The Cross 
3. Nephthys 
4. Living With The Dead 
5. I Am Your Virus 
6. Screams From My Own Grave

With The Dead - Living With The Dead (First Single)

With The Dead - Crown Of Burning Stars (Official Video)