REVIEW: The Grand Astoria - Omnipresence

PsychedelicRock from The Russian Federation
The Grand Astoria - Mania Grandiosa


Culling their sound from a vast variety of influences, The Grand Astoria presents Omnipresence, a mixture of dirty garage rock, stoner grooves, acid rock vibes and some sneering, leering punk rock vocals. Kinda like a kid in a candy store who wants a bit of everything, they throw all these sounds into a paper bag to produce a pretty decent nine-track effort.

“Doomsday Party” gets things off to a brisk start, a fuzzy, punky number that sounds kinda like The Hellacopters fronted by Johnny Rotten and ends with a bang—literally. “Hungry & Foolish” slows things down a tad, while adding some spaceship soloing and Hammond organ into the mix. “Mania Grandiosa” takes things down another notch into desert rock territory with plenty of echoplex on the vox before turning into an all-out psychedelic freakout.

After a mellow interlude in “Omniabsent,” they get right back into the rock with “Rat Race in Moscow.” This race is more of a marathon than a sprint with its rolling mid-paced grooves and super-distorted vocals, a heavily-overdriven radio-friendly rocker. “Something Wicked This Way Comes” is a strange prog rock opus that kinda detracts from the rest of the tunes, IMO, but still has its moments, some inspired soloing over a galloping NWOBHM bassline—though I could do without the movie sound effects.

A regal rockin' effort from a great new band, with a ton of varied tunes and omnipresent distortion, The Grand Astoria has won me over with their twisted take on heavy psychedelic music. Worth seeking this one out. Email the band to get yourself a copy here thegrandastoria@gmail.com

Reviewed by Gruesome Greg 

Myspace  
Raig

Check out Last.FM for The Grand Astoria Omnipresence World Tour Dates 2011

 

Track List

01.Doomsday Party

02.Hungry & Foolish

03.Mania Grandiosa

04.Omniabsence

05.Rat Race In Moscow

06.Something Wicked This Way Comes

07.The Song Of Hope

08.Omnipresence

09.Stonewall

REVIEW: The Grand Astoria - The Grand Astoria Ep

StonerRocK from the Russian Federation
The Grand Astoria - Evolution of the Planet Groove


This truckload of rock(s) known as 'The Grand Astoria' has led me to surrender on all fronts. After listening frantically over and over to this album I have decided that this have to be the best band ever from Eastern Europe. St. Petersburg and Russia are truly on the move and this is for sure one of the best albums in 2009!

On the self titled debut album by the Russian rock gods 'The Grand Astoria' you get six different flavours of dynamite-smelling munchies beautifully wrapped all together in a conspicuous surprise box. These fuzzadelic stringburners touch every inch of your pagan body and bring you the finest in both psychedelic stoner and cow-shit-smelling-southern-fried-armwrestling-metal-flavoured-redneck rock with a touch of blues.

The opening gem, the instrumental psychedelic stoner rock act 'The Art Of Communication With Aliens' is all about musical art. Atmospheric, vibrant and with lots of spacey deep dives, enough to make anyone who's into this kind of music to feel like a cosmonaut. Finally all aliens around the universe understand 'our' language and are gathered to learn more about the greatness in heavy rock! Next track 'Evolution Of The Planet Groove' is more like a hybrid between Fu Manchu and Alabama Thunderpussy who crushes everything in its path like some homicidal wrecking ball on the loose. This time you get vocals sung by Kamille who is a talanted singer in my opinion, along with vicious and heavy rock riffs of higher rank which tells you the story of the evolution on Planet Groove!

On the fourth track 'The Man, The Sun, The Desert' The Grand Astoria keeps pushing you towards the sun and just like everything else on this gorgeous piece of plastic 'The Man' is a devout skirt lifter who never fails. This act is a psychedelic stoner/heavy metal transformation that grabs you by the balls almost immediately. Give the Russian wizards these 13 minutes of your time (along with the rest of the album) and I assure you that nothing can stop them from making you to their slave for life!

It is hard to pick a specific song as a favourite because every single minute of the album is a joyful ride, and as I have said before The Grand Astoria is a first class band who rides them high horses all the way up without any difficulties. 50% of the songs on the disc have vocals, the other half is a mind-blowing instrumental journey into the unknown.

On the whole you get a rocket fuelled heavy rock abuse in almost 45 minutes. If you're preaching bands like Alabama Thunderpussy, Hainloose, Halfway To Gone, Dozer, Rollerball and Mannhai you will dig this, no doubt about it. Contact the band and get yourself a copy, or download it for FREE at their MySpace page ,I promise you won't regret it!

Reviewed by Tobias Beament

Myspace 
Raig 

 

Track List 

01 The Art of Communication with Alien

02 Evolution of the Planet Groove

03 All the Same

04 The Man. The Sun. The Desert

05 Salvation is Near

06 Bell Jar (The World is not Okay)

The Grand Astoria - Omnipresence 2011 

 Released in 6-panel digipack.You can order your copy via thegrandastoria@gmail.com