Grails may be chief executive bigwigs on the psych-rock scene, but they’re also the reverse supergroup that’s provided members to wildly disparate outfits as experimental dance duo Lilacs & Champagne, metal’s kaleidoscopic journeymen OM, krautrock/Slint worshippers Watter, among others. All the extracurricular activity since their last album, 2011’s Deep Politics, has apparently seeped into Chalice Hymnal as evidenced by its numerous slow-motion hairpin turns. “New Prague” sounds like a classic Praxis outtake, the title track veers into soundtrack/synth-wave territory, “Deep Snow II” reeks of spaghetti and Westerns, “Rebecca” is Marconi Union-esque new age, and “Empty Chamber” sounds like the background ambience to a Kendrick or Kanye track. Grails’ tackling of a wide variety of genres is executed with confidence and competence, which means that the listener’s enjoyment/acceptance of their sixth album is likely to be based on the expansiveness of their personal palate for sonic enjoyment.
—Kevin Stewart-Panko
