smart url ⟹ band.link/GZaN2 ⟸


www.metalmusicarchives.com review by Jimmy Neeson:
" In a way, it seems a bit unusual to review just one song on its own, but since the song is almost twenty minutes long it seems more acceptable. The song in question is ‘To Whom It May Concern’ by the Russian band The Grand Astoria, who’s sound is a compelling mixture of Stoner Rock, Psychedelic, Prog and Metal.

The song isn’t on any of the band’s first three albums, nor is it on the excellent Ceaser Enters The Palace Of Doom EP nor is it available a single on iTunes so if you are interested you’ll have to either buy it directly off of the band’s Bandcamp page or else get a physical copy of their Split EP (with US Christmas).

The first eight minutes or so, after a quiet acoustic intro, is a mid-paced and mid-heaviness section with different key, synth and lead guitar tones coming in and out allowing the song to slowly unravel and evolve over time. For the most part, it still sounds like The Grand Astoria but it also has hints of Mastodon and Baroness’ recent work, in a way.

Eight minutes in and it takes a turn into the drum-free realm of feedback noises, atmospheric sound effects and dialogue samples, reminiscent of the The Mars Volta’s less accessible moments or the bits in the middle of Pink Floyd tracks like ‘Echoes’ and ‘A Saucerful Of Secrets’ that you’d read described as “challenging.”

When the vocals come back in for an initially creepy clean guitar section the song really begins to impress, particularly in the vocal department, which has never sounded better on a The Grand Astoria release. This section is followed by some excellent spidery Robert Fripp-esque guitar and an increasingly lively backing from the rest of the band that builds all the way up through to a nice fat Doom riff in a non-standard time sig that combines all the prog dexterity of the band’s 2nd album (or tracks like ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ ‘Enigma Satanica’ and ‘Salvation Is Near’ from elsewhere in their discography) with great Sabbath sounding Metal and hangs out in this territory until the songs conclusion at the nineteen minutes and eighteen seconds mark.

Overall, the track is pretty interesting and impressive, I like it a lot and in a perfect world I’d love to hear the theoretical album that both it and the Ceaser Enters The Palace Of Doom EP tracks come from. As it stands both individual non-album entities are entertaining on their own as shorter mini-releases that still seem even better than almost all of the first three albums since the band always seem to get better and better.

If you have any interest in the band you should really check it out and if you just like the notion of the band from this description then you should consider checking it out and if you like it, trying the rest of their older releases as well. "
www.metalmusicarchives.com/album/the-grand-astoria/to-whom-it-may-concern(split)




writingaboutmusic.blogspot.com review by Scott Heller:
"I had never heard the Russian band, The Grand Astoria before, only read about them but I am a follower of US Christmas so I was very curious about this 12”. The Grand Astoria start the 12” off with an LP side long track called To Whom it may Concern. It has fantastic lyrics and they have a very unique sound and are a big band, featuring 10 people. It is a strange mix of heavy, psychedelic, progressive, some screaming vocal at times, but a lot of stuff going on all the time as it slowly builds up. The cello, trumpet and trombone come in a bit later in the track when the sound sample from an archaeological show. The next section is really spacey before the track builds up in intensity. The lyrical content is more intense as well. This track is quite a journey. Great stuff.

The US Christmas side I was hoping was new material but it is not. It is two live tracks from the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco (Amazing place to see a concert!). Silent Tongue from the Salt the Wound CD is first and a slow spacey track. Next they perform the most instrumental song, In the Night, from the Run thick in the Night LP. Nice open sound quality but sometimes difficult to hear the two drummers plus hand drummer, violin and synthesizer. If you are a collector you will want this but otherwise it is nothing new. The record is a simple sleeve with a small thick paper insert with all the details about the tracks and who played on them. I think this is limited to 500 copies. "
writingaboutmusic.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-grand-astoria-x-us-christmas.html




battlehelm.com review by Anders Ekdahl:
"This is a split between THE GRAND ASTORIA and US CHRISTMAS. Again I have no idea how this fits in the discography and I don’t really care either. This does appear to be a bit more somber and controlled than other stuff I have heard by the band. but it also goers to show the many sides of this amazing band. The band does one track on this split but the track is a 19 minutes piece. I honestly don’t know where the band comes from musically or even where they are going but as long as they knock out songs like this doomy psychedelic influenced one I don’t care too much. I don’t know why I came to think of Cathedral when I listened to this but hey, one great band leads the mind to another great band. US CHRISTMAS might have a strange name and are usually to be found on the Neurot roster but that is nothing I hold against them. Quite on the contrary actually. I love the band Swans. This in some way made me think back to that band and that sonic excellence that band produced. Musically this is some sort of psychedelic doom rock. Judging from these two live tracks they do a fine job at it too. I might have been totally oblivious to the existence of US CHRISTMAS prior to this but now I gotta track down more stuff from them."
battlehelm.com/reviews/the-grand-astoria-x-us-christmas-split/




Japan masterofslach.blog114.fc2.com review by mossgreen/畳色:
"アテの無いBandcamp巡りを通じて出会ったコチラ。2009年結成の、ロシア産3ピースでございます。元々はサイケ・ストーナー界隈のバンドらしく、初期作はザラリとしたギターサウンドと荒くれヴォーカルで突き進むサウンドが軸になっている様子でした。・・・がしかし！徐々にプログレ方面へのアプローチを強めてきたとのことで、2011年作の2曲入りEPではプログレッシヴ・ストーナーと言いたくなるかなりの異端サウンドを打ち出しています。
そして今回ご紹介は、約19分1曲のみで構成された作品。これだけでプログレファン大歓喜なんですけど、中身も濃く、隙の無い作品であります。ダークに淡々と刻み続ける前半戦と、荒涼とした後半戦の対比からは、単純な酩酊とは違う、哲学的な佇まいを感じさせてくれます。

そんなこんなで歌詞も気になってきたので、レビューついでに対訳挑戦と相成りました。曲タイトルはメールの枕詞で使われる「関係者各位」、あるいは直訳的に「当てはまる人全てに」といった所でしょうか。対訳を進めて行くと、後者の方がしっくりくる感じでした。


【以下、想像力一杯に日本語訳。】
※元の英詞は載せません。なんとなく（しかしながら、各種リンク先で読めます）
※基本的に翻訳サイト・辞書サイトとにらめっこして作っているので、正確性にはどうしても疑問が残ります。
　ある種二次創作的な感覚でどうぞ。
【はじまるよ！】


------------------------------------
この歌を捧げよう
私の本心を語ろう
朽ちた骨　苦痛　受難
それら全てへの賛歌
届く人全てに捧げよう
私はこの場所から離れたい
道の長さは知っている
ただ、足取りは自由だ


より良い世界について話そう
古き良き時代の物語だ
理解には遠く、まだ至らないが
同情が全ての鍵だと告げている
君と共に死にたい
冷静な瞬間を捉えろ
染められた夕闇を捉えろ
君の価値を判断しろ


ドアを閉めてくれ
奴らを中に入れないでくれ
奴らは我々の兄弟姉妹を苦しめた
私の母・・・私は母を知らない
隠そうとしないでくれ
奴らは君の心にあるそれに恐怖している
しかし奥底では
君の正しさを知っているはずだ


振り返らない方が良い
その歩みを止めない方が良い
奴らと仲良くする必要など無い
奴らが理解することなど無い
そして、今の君は敵対する者
例えばそう、
　道徳に対し
　　　性に対し
　　　　官能に対し
　　　　　　不死に対し...
----------------------------------------


【追記】
非常にパーソナル？あるいは抽象的？な暗さに支配された歌詞でありました。歌詞として記載された部分以外にも語りが入りますが、リスニング能力の関係で文字起こしには至らず。ただ、始終ダークな独白に圧倒されるばかり。どこか芯のある力強さも感じるので、ただただ絶望という感じでもなく。理解の追いついていない部分も多々ありますが、音の世界には確かにリンクしていると感じました。"
masterofslach.blog114.fc2.com/blog-entry-436.html
+ Top of the Year:
"お次はロシアの牛頭蓋。彼らは今年のリリースもありますが、今年の私としてはどうしても旧譜のこちらを推したい。去年11月リリースの、19分1曲のみの作品です。プログレッシヴ・ストーナーのセンス光る逸品。"
masterofslach.blog114.fc2.com/blog-entry-513.html


full album video on
666MrDoom channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ija67MeNz9o