Grace

Grace [7-inch] (2012)

Fwrites

Over nine songs, Grace play a faithful version of '90s metalcore, i.e. best metalcore–suspect politics, oversized skate shoes and krishna beads aside.

On the first of three tracks, ''Sorrow'' features straight to the point furious vocals and guitars shredding in unison, with a particularly nice lead near the end. ''The Game'' is probably the best track of the record, featuring more of a mid-pace and even melancholic sound, making a nice departure from the blistering fury of the other songs. ''To Your Neck'' differs little from the opener, aside from showing off the more technical aspect of the group, bordering into Botch and later-Coalesce-esque mathcore. On a disapproving/facetious note, it's a shame that there aren't any whispered/spoken word vocals over the lead riff in the latter half of the track. Maybe that was just too '90s for them, just short of wearing parka jackets or charcoaling David Koresh and his followers. 

Overall, Grace have done a good job of taking a distinctive sound and doing their own thing with it. Fast, passionate, skillful. What they'd benefit from is a greater variation in vocals and more differences in tempo, not just blisteringly fast. The band have shown that they're capable of progression, as ''Six'' is a big step up from these first three tracks; but you get a sense that they can go other places from here.