Gradience

Buy here: http://www.metalblade.com/gradience
gradience /ˈɡreɪdiən(t)s/
(noun) the absence of a clear-cut boundary between one category and another

"‘White Noise’ is one of our more experimental and unpredictable tracks on the album,” vocalist Gavin Mistry notes of their latest single. “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."

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 pulverised. 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 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 - Jakob a visual artist and musician playing in "a popcore band", Gavin a main player "in different hip-hop constellations" - they quickly found common ground in an area both were keen to explore.

"We found out we had many of the same musical influences in metal, even though neither of us had ever played in a metal band," says Jakob. "We later found out we both were at a crossroads with the bands/projects we had going on, and we both felt an urge to create something new together." As Gavin remembers, this inciting revelation took place on the most important day of his life, one way and another: "I invited Jakob to my wedding, where we talked over the idea of joining forces in a semi-drunken haze. I was searching for something where I could blend my honed skills in rap and rock, the right way."

If you're looking for a handy stylistic descriptor to make sense of Gradience's versatile, mashed-up innovations, you'll have to invent your own; the old-fashioned 'rap metal' tag scarcely does it justice. "I don't really feel we can be put into the box of 'rap metal'," muses Gavin, "but for people to more easily identify our sound, I tend to somewhat compare us to what could be conceived as 'rap metal'. Though, our genre is really just a mixture of all the stuff we like, all neatly packaged with some bars, screams, and double bass drums."

Produced, mixed and mastered by Chris Kreutzfeldt

Gradience online:
https://www.instagram.com/gradiencedk/
https://www.facebook.com/gradiencedk/
https://www.youtube.com/@Gradiencedk
https://www.tiktok.com/@gradiencedk
https://gradiencedk.bandcamp.com/music

LYRICS:
10. White Noise
--------------------------------
Aye
Turn it down for what, yeah, you know what that boy say
Track mark, black lines
Hanging heavy on his face
Eyes so wretched
Double-barrel 12-Gauge
Finna find out, if you finna fucking play
You move a lot, talkin' shit a lot
Know you not tryna sip my cup
Know I got juju in my blood
What's done can't fucking be undone

So desolate
I know the feeling of disbelieving
So be afraid
I let it in and it took everything

So incessant
Last vamp at the crescent
Call me Vlad-boy
Fuck around flows, got the whole riff pregnant

Obey
Obey
These steps you follow lead astray
The webs you weave they suffocate me

Uh, I see the light in ya
Pinnacle points and it's none of my
Biz and a bitch run it, bla bla bla
Lookin' my way, they see bloody bars
Aye, guess I'll finally do this
What, guess I'll finally prove
What, unless I die before
Claws impale me

Guess I'll finally do this, prove it, you should be aware
Pity ain't that cute
We just made it out of here
Guess you need reminding when you lie and turn the fiend
Solace only serves
When you pay the fee

So desolate
I know the feeling of disbelieving
So be afraid
I let it in and it took everything
I let it in and it took everything
I know the feeling of disbelieving

Yeah
Guess I really made it out
Hm, the poison in me diluted
The fights that reside in my memories
The ones that are deeply rooted
They say
Synergies attract
So the copious amounts of potions
The loneliness
The sounds of the quiet oceans
Only heard by me
Only seen by me
Only and always been in me
It's a part
A fucking part I can't
I can't dissect it
It's a reflection
Out