Gravitron

"The Dawning of the Finite Moment of Now" CD

4 Walls Records

Genres: stoner rock, hard rock

band website

Jun 16 - 22 2003

Gravitron are a newly formed stoner rock band with something to prove.   They've got a nice sound, incorporating both hard stoner influences and pop aspects into their musical concoction, and hard rock fans are bound to be pleased.  The inclusion of keyboards in their instrumentation is a nice touch, hinting at a more melodic approach than most of the similar-minded material out there.  Their songs are very tight, but the recording quality isn't perfect.

There is a lot to rave about on The Dawning.  "Going Nowhere," for example, is an absolutely ravishing track.  While the vocals sound a bit awkward at first, by the end of the song you'll find yourself headbanging to the riffs and humming along to the surprisingly infectious chorus.  "Slider," meanwhile, is instrumental until the last minute, when it becomes an atmospheric space rock tune.  On the other hand, we've got "The Meatman Cometh," which is a hard-learned lesson in low production values.

Altogether, Gravitron's The Dawning of a Finite Moment of Now is an interesting cross-breeding of stoner metal and space rock.  While it's not without its problems, the music is a very psychedelic brew, and a fun one at that.

83%

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 12 songs, distributed by All That's Heavy, released 2003]