Local Review: Gracemaker — EP

Gracemaker
EP
Self-Released
Street: 04.13.25
Gracemaker = Rammstein + Pierce The Veil + something much darker

Gracemaker’s latest EP is what I would call some good old-fashioned heart-pumping, heavy hardcore music. It’s not the beer-chugging, slam-dancing kind of hardcore music you’d hear in someone’s garage — frankly, it’s too well-produced for that. But I think a more proper setting would be the darkly intricate walls of a cathedral, as this album is just that: darkly intricate. 

The first track, “Sans Transient,” is exactly what you’re wanting and expecting out of a hardcore album. It’s fast, it’s loud and it makes you mad that you’re subjected to live in a system not of your own design. Nicholas Bat’s unique vocals serve to make this song a solid introduction to the EP, and his stylings solidly carry throughout the album. Will I say it is anything that is excitingly new? No, but I will say it is not boringly redundant.

The second track, “Charm,” is where guitarist Matt Wiley is really given a chance to shine. It may be skull-cracking music, but that doesn’t mean an immense amount of care didn’t go into recording and mixing the instrumentals. And that comes in no more solidly than for the guitar on this track. 

“Shadow Blade” is the third track on the album, and it is a solid contender for the jewel of the EP. Immediately you catch wind again of that cathedral-esque tone that you can hear on the first track. And then WHAM, it hits you with this electronic sequence that is both a surprise and a delight to the listener. I speak only for myself when I say this, but I am thrilled when an album surprises me. Some may call a sudden change in M.O. or tone a momentum killer, but I believe it draws the listener in and adds a welcome layer of complexity to the whole artistic work. 

Remember when I said that “Shadow Blade” was a contender for top track? This next song is why I didn’t say it is. “Leveler,” the album’s closer, feels like what all of the previous tracks had been leading up to. It starts very slow, in a moody and dismal tone that paints a gray landscape in your mind. This is then overlaid with simple reverberating vocals and guitar, with a little touch of something synthesized. Then, heralded by haunting harmonies, a screeching guitar gives a bomb-whistle of an intro and you are hit with the blood-splattering heavy drums, bass and guitar that rips through whatever sound system you have for the next three-or-so minutes. 

Overall, I would say that this EP leaves me wanting more in all senses of the phrase. In songs like “Sans Transient,” I am left charmed but unsurprised. It sates a hunger, but goes no further. It is extremely listenable and obviously made with a great deal of care and attention, but I don’t see it becoming a signature piece. 

It’s not until you get to the latter half of the project that it really start to shine. You still get all the makings of some classic hardcore but with something new — something that, tonally, carries the album beyond just words and music in a written and played format. It creates an image that is curated to look exactly as the writers and musicians have intended. When I say it leaves me wanting more, I mean I want to see more of that image. I want to hear more of what Gracemaker has to offer, but it feels like they’re offering an unfairly small window into what could make them into something truly special. 

If I were to leave any bands reading this with some advice, I’d say: Don’t be afraid to get weird with it. Experiment and try something new. Even if it sounds terrible, it will, at least, sound uniquely terrible. —Cam Elliott

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