Greyborn – Leeches (EP)
Release Date: 18th March 2022
Label: F2M Planet
Bandcamp
Genre: Stoner Rock, Modern Psychedelia.
FFO: Red Fang, Queens of the Stone Age, Triggerfinger.
Review By: Paul Franklin
Neither the name of a house in Game of Thrones, or an insult in the world of Harry Potter, Greyborn are in fact a drummer-fronted French trio founded on the ashes of heavy rock unit Mama’s Gun. Leeches is their debut 5-track EP of fuzz-drenched, anthemic stoner rock that address the mass disenchantment and ethical decay of a swiftly changing world.
With this ethos in mind, the music and lyrics are much darker and harsher than the usual trippy, sun-baked vibe associated with the genre. The hefty stomp of the title track kicks things off with a hint of QOTSA, but with more bludgeon. The metronomic grind of Bits & Pieces warns of the dangers of ever-increasing scientific progression, whilst sounding like an early Royal Blood track that has had its pockets filled with rocks and chucked into the nearest river.
Jharia takes a more melancholic psychedelic approach. A journey though a barren wasteland, every step of the way accompanied by tribal drums that at once seem both comforting and eerily threatening. The QOTSA influence can be heard again on the post-punkish After Dark, before Greyborn sign off with Corrosive Faith, a doom-laden, slow burner which is quite aptly named as it builds to a crescendo that sounds like to want to dissolve your speakers.
With big riffs, heavy distortion and an eerie gothic air, Greyborn have opened a gateway to the darker recesses of the modern word. Sombre yet enchanting.
(4 / 5)
