The Grey – Kodok | Album Review

If Kodok is anything to go by, The Grey may be a misnomer. The Cambridge trio's third album is a fizzing wash of contrasts and textures, murky sludge laden blackness peeling away to reveal blinding brightness and an entire spectrum of vivid colour.

This really is where The Grey find their strength, in the ability to marry the two sides of their personality and knowing when to let their proverbial Mr Hyde out. Without the expertly crafted melodic passages in tracks like ‘Painted Lady’ or ‘CHVRCH’, where layers are built up slowly and playful melodies are allowed to dance and move fluidly, the sheer weight of the riffs would feel lost and not have the emotional or sonic impact. Each blow is landed with the power and precision of a heavyweight boxer who has filled their gloves with lead and then dipped them in tar.

While the majority of Kodok is instrumental, there are smatterings of vocals throughout the record and mostly to incredible effect. Grady Avenell of Will Haven, brings an extra savagery to ‘Sharpen The Knife’ with his signature, unmistakable howl. Looking closer to their own ranks, bassist Andy Price also lends a similar bellow on the aforementioned ‘CHVRCH’ which breaks like a cathartic wave.

Both performances are harrowing, powerful, and perfectly placed. The classic rock vocal of Ricky Warwick on ‘Don’t Say Goodbye’ however, is a giant misstep. While the performance is acceptable and the idea bright in principle, the clash in styles threatens to derail the record at a crucial stage. It takes until halfway through ‘AFG’ to rebuild that momentum which takes a little bit of the bloom off the rose. The inclusion of the remixed mashup with dARKMODE also adds very little to the album, and may have been better placed as a standalone entity.

Kodok is a powerful journey of a record with a less than satisfying destination. However, the closing few moments do not take away from just how brilliantly crafted the front end of the record is. Where these songs are going to live and die are in the live arena, and The Grey are more than capable of bringing these songs to life in all of their glory.