Louisville, Kentucky group Greyhaven have never quite had the breakthrough they deserve. On record, they’ve received praise for their use of melody, ferocity, and technical dexterity (for example, 2018’s ‘Empty Black’ received full marks from us). While it has allowed the quartet to build a following, you can’t help but feel they’re a band that should be talked about more.
Their fourth album, ‘Keep It Quiet,’ arrives three years after the release of ‘This Bright and Beautiful World. ‘ Having leaned more into melodic territory last time out, the aim on here is to expand their sonic palette. On paper, it’s a cliché goal to have, yet for Greyhaven, it might be the missing ingredient to elevate them to their rightful spot.
Alongside Will Putney’s production work, vocalist Brent Mills, guitarist Nick Spencer, bassist Johnny Muench, and drummer Ethan Spray prove to be a solid unit. From the outset, Spencer’s scrappy guitar slices through alongside Mills’ screams on ‘Prelude: Evening Star’ before ‘Shatter And Burst’ sees Spray deliver a kinetic rush while Muench assists with the controlled chaos. It also highlights Mills’ versatile delivery. One moment, he’s venomous and rabid, the next, providing soaring rock hooks. It sets the bar high for the rest of the record. Thankfully, cuts such as ‘Burn A Miracle’ and ‘Where The Light Leaves Us’ soon show up to match the momentous scale. The latter erupts with fury and angular guitars before Mills comfortably shifts into the role of melodic singer.
Greyhaven‘s execution is never straightforward or dumbed down. For all the bold choruses songs like ‘Night in October’ and ‘Diamond To Diamond’ serve up, there’s an off-kilter undertone. It’s here where the widened sonic palette rears its head. Whether it’s Spencer’s trepidatious guitar lines on ‘Night in October’ or the atmospheric drift into the bombastic surge heard on ‘Diamond To Diamond’. Meanwhile, the breezy transition to ravenous destructure on ‘From The Backseat Of A Moving Car’ is a late album highlight, again partly due to the technical execution of Spencer, Muench, and Spray. In between, there are moments of refined frenzy. ‘Satellite In Love’ charges in with Spray’s dense low-end fills and an overall stomping groove.
Even when they enter passionate hard rock territory on ‘Technicolor Blues’, there’s a subtle uneasiness to its presentation. Partly due to Mills’ vulnerable lyrics, “take apart and take a look at my hеart, I never wanted to be found, It takes a lot to take a look at me now.” With its steady acoustic build and sustained guitar lines, it ideally takes its place as the album’s centrepiece.
It is that same vulnerability that threads ‘Keep It Quiet’ together. Its eleven songs allow Mills to open up about his internal struggles directly, rather than shielding them in abstractness. It makes moments such as ‘Burn A Miracle’, ‘Diamond To Diamond ‘, and ‘Cemetery Sun’ hit that bit sharper.
Whether or not ‘Keep It Quiet’ is the breakthrough Greyhaven deserves remains to be seen. However, it is without a doubt their most focused offering yet. It takes the chaotic post-hardcore/metalcore sound of their early work and pairs it with a wider sonic scope and direct songwriting, with a handful of hooks to elevate it further.
‘Keep It Quiet’ by Greyhaven is released on October 10th on Solid State Records.
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