Half Gramme Of Soma - Groove Is Black (2017) (New Full Album)
Half Gramme Of Soma - Groove Is Black (New Full Album) Half Gramme of Soma is a 5-piece Rock band formed in early 2011, based in Athens, Greece. Since the start of 2015 H.G.o.S. consist of new members from the wider Smoking Community, housed in the 13th floor of an infamous Piraeus’ apartment block. In May 2017, the second full length studio album, and first with the current line - up, Groove is Black, has landed on earth earth to rock our bones. Every band that starts with a nice debut album doesn't have by necessity similarly nice follow up releases. Half Gramme of Soma is not one of those bands. That last change in the lineup is what really defined the sound and the character of their new album. Although their general direction remained quite the same as before, this album which is their second full release, is a totally new and separate chapter, if not a milestone for HGoS.
If I had to describe in a few words the 'taste' this album left to me after several hearings, those words would simply be: rock'n'roll and that's not only because of the sound, but mostly because of the feeling and the general 'attitude' that the album reflects to the listener. From the beginning to the end this album is a rock feast, a groovy spiral trajectory that is calling you to follow it, spiraling you down to its unknown center. The voice of Dionisis may have been one of the key elements that gave the push to that spiral to start spinning and even if this isn't the point I think that it was a key ingredient for the final result because the color and tone of his voice is more than appropriate for such projects if not pure rock'n'roll on it's own.
The album contains 8 tracks, with four of them being over 6 minutes in duration, and while those tended to be my favorites during the first hearings of the album I finally found myself liking equally all the tracks for different reasons each. The passage from one track to another gave the feeling of a remarkably well structured flow, considering the album in its entirety. In addition, considering each track separately there is a clear structural pattern for each one of them that defines the general attitude that HGoS followed while composing this album. Gloomy Eggplant, the first track of the album, is the one that gives you the riff-kick in the face just after it's 'misleadingly' mild and gentle intro and it gives you a hint of what is going to follow. Jerk, No Man's God and Drowned are probably the darkest and more emotionally charged tracks of the album with No Man's God being the strongest link in this chain while Drowned offers a purgatorial outburst on it's second half that leads to the end of the album.
Mega Rollo Booster is the rock-kick you get after you've listened to the first track and unfolds before you the new, true nature of HGoS in this album. Being only 3 minutes in duration it makes clear how the band perceives the term rock'n'roll and that's something we're going to witness more massively in their future releases. Red Kiss gave the feeling that in a way the whole track smells like Jimi Hendrix allover, groovy, heavy, bluesy and sexy. Groove is Black starts with a dark intro that evolves very smoothly to a murky groove which reaches a climax with the guitar solo 2 minutes before the track's ending. Doofie, being also just a little bit above 3 minutes in duration, is another fast rock'n'roll track in the vein of Mega Rollo Booster. Groove is Black flows and evolves very naturally, unfolds its rock nature almost effortlessly, and that is its strongest advantage. No more words! This May just click play.
Review by downtunedmag
1. Gloomy Eggplant - 0:00
2. Mega Rollo Booster - 6:38
3. Red Kiss - 9:52
4. Groove is Black - 13:51
5. Jerk - 21:02
6. Doofie - 25:49
7. No Man's God - 29:21
8. Drowned - 36:19
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