Fusing rapid hardcore with thrash metal and punk, Wales’ based GRAND COLLAPSE are here to blow you away with their third album ‘Empty Plinths’. Grand Collapse cannot be pegged down to any one clichéd style. The heavy D-beat under flailed-out endless chords, into bellowing NYHC beatdown styles, will make you want to retrace those steps like a book you just skimmed over and felt like you missed a lot of what was going on. In his recent book ‘The Scene That Would Not Die’ Ian Glasper described Grand Collapse as “quite possibly the most vital hardcore punk band to come out of the UK in recent years, and their frantic energy and political commitment bode well for the future of the scene as an intelligent, empowering, positive force.” Who are we to disagree?
Grand Collapse are known for their intense political message and raging live shows. The band stands firmly against all forms of prejudice and promotes animal & human rights. This is evident throughout Empty Plinths. The title track muses about a world without oppressive institutions and trivial effigies lining our streets. Discussing the album singer Calvin writes “I’m buzzing about this one. It’s taken a while but we’re finally ready to let Empty Plinths loose. It’s heavier, darker sounding with some melody laced through the aggro and a few twists and turns along the way. Topically we’ve set our sights on disingenuous clergy, underhand police tactics during a health crisis & trophy hunters who claim to be conservationists amongst other things. We’re not pulling any punches here. It’s a vehement attack on the injustice all around us. I’d love to write about love or something funny happening on the way to the shops but its hard when you’re bullshit detector is always bleeping away!”
This is the first Grand Collapse album featuring new bassist Blag. Calvin says that “it was great to have a new perspective during the writing process and I think that comes through on the tunes.” Guitarist Jon adds “hopefully it’s the most well rounded of the albums so far – it’s certainly closer to the sound originally envisaged by us when we started. I feel like we’ve found our feet. You can hear all of our influences on this one; including the more metallic ones – Death, Slayer, etc. – and after ten years, we can possibly execute the playing with a bit more finesse on this record”
The album artwork is by long-term band collaborator and artist John Abell. His brilliant woodcut depicting the Colston statue toppling in Bristol last year, where an empty plinth still sits. Layout and graphics are by Well Artcore with photography by Boo.
Grand Collapse finished writing the songs during Spring 2020 and the first lockdown. They were recorded, mixed and mastered by Lewis Johns at The Ranch Production House (Southampton, UK) in August 2020.
All merch is printed on No Sweat clothing (https://nosweat.org.uk/). Please note the hoodies don’t have zips.
Buy Grand Collapse’s album on vinyl and CD – ORDER HERE.
