MyGrain – V

Label: Reaper Entertainment     release: October 2nd, 2020

In 2015, after four studio albums and expansive amounts of touring, the Finns MyGrain did call it quits (we reported) and decided to go at least for a hiatus of an undefined length of time. During that time it was unclear whether the band would re-activate or not. In 2018 the idea of re-activation started to sparkle, they hit the digital channels with their self-released EP named “III” and played at several Finnish summer festivals – which were all a huge success.

Now MyGrain finally strike back! Their 5. longplayer V is definitely one of their best, maybe the best album. When looking at the song titles, it seems they kept their „Space Metal“ trademark … and a certain amount of totally-bonkers. Which might explain this truly remarkable mix of styles and genres on this album – from Thrash and Black Metal attacks, groove, atmospheric-dreamy sounds to Soft-Rock-Pop melodies. A lot of variety indeed, and quite exciting – yet still it’s MyGrain, no doubt. Well, OK, listening to the epic-symphonic final track „Waves Of Doom“ I wasn’t sure first whether they had hired a guest vocalist or if it was indeed the same dude. Yep, shortly afterwards it was clear, it was. Tommy Tuovinen has obviously used the hiatus – even from singing as such due to a vocal cord problem – to work on his voice and various modes of expression. A huge plus for the band!

Summing up, this is what I call a comeback – and maybe some credit needs to go to SoundSpiral Studio mixing wizard Juho Räihä (Swallow The Sun, Hallatar, Before The Dawn, etc.) too. Great album, buy it!

MyGrain are:
Tuomas “Tommy” Tuovinen – vocals
Teemu Ylämäki – guitars
Joni Lahdenkauppi – guitars
Jonas Kuhlberg – bass
Janne Mikael Manninen – drums