Stymied by mass hypnosis, disunification and various epidemics of violence there is yet resolve in the current state of mind New York-based melodic death/doom metal quartet Grey Skies Fallen conveys on this sixth full-length album and for the sake of them having prophesied and parsed the oncoming panicked clotting of the hive for decades on end. Whatever deserved doom arrives upon the population there is meaningful resolve just as well as there is earned fragility in the muse serving ‘Molded By Broken Hands‘, the latest step taken on their long trudged ascension into view. Conducting gloom from sympathetic pulpit their work continues its exploration of auld romanticist doom of the early 90’s anew, still breathing deeply of traditional heavy metal on an ‘epic’ scale all the while reaching for the prog-metal singed extremes extant in their work beyond late 90’s/early 2000’s introductions.

As they press on downriver, roughly thirty years beyond the first jam sessions between the original members of the group in the mid-90’s, Grey Skies Fallen have weathered it all well-and-good regardless of their earlier peaking boons in the late 90’s/early 2000’s when their brand of progressive dark metal inspired melodic doom was at its most abundant reception. Line-up changes, side-projects, and leaner times persisted but they’d never collapsed in any certain public way. Much as it’d make sense to chip away at the nuances of their complete discography once more I’d more-or-less covered that when I’d given review of their exceptional fifth album (‘Cold Dead Lands‘, 2020) and taken stock of their journey from “Peaceville three” inspired melodic death/doom inspiration to a whole-hog delve into progressive realms along the way. I’d recommend the context of their 1999 and 2002 LPs alongside album number five heading into this new album to make sure you know where they came from alongside their most recent brilliancy.

That fifth album was a triumph, a brilliant set of longform and immersive pieces wherein I’d found the album to be a surprising marriage of epic doom metal and their melodic death/doom metal style, side-stepping some of their past progressive metal ambitions for traditional heavy metal traits. That record is still underrated but thankfully it still holds up quite well four years later as we can consider the bigger successes of ‘Molded by Broken Hands‘ more-or-less coming from the sharpest indulgences of that previous record. They’ve shortened the songs a bit, cinched up the dead air and added back some of the keyboard/synth interest to start. I have to admit they’ve tapped into something special here, a dramatic form of melodic doom metal which isn’t so far from what bands like Isole or labelmates Godthrymm have managed in recent years where the extremity of their work appears to have matured into surprisingly enriched songcraft over time. The third song on the album, “No Place For Sorrow”, is probably the best example of this years earned master as it carries its harmonized heavy metal stridency, using a bit of nigh blackened death cull to create deeper layers of verse in between knotted British doom metal worthy riffs. This is as close to something like Solstice as this album comes, and there were even more of these moments on the previous album, while still retaining its dramatic prog-melodic doom mélange.

The first three songs on ‘Molded by Broken Hands‘ reach for similar highs and lows, fittingly the most outsized gust being profoundly stated opener “A Twisted Place in Time”. This may very well be a sublimely energizing piece for folks long indebted to the emotional toil of groups like October Tide and even Novembers Doom but the devil is in the detailing here wherein fluttering keys, (early) Paradise Lost-esque grooves and dual guitar driven highs maintain this core heavy metal spiritus which guides even this most involved opening song. In this sense we have a slightly more direct companion to ‘Cold Dead Lands‘ right off the bat but not a repurposed facsimilia as we can feel the additional contributions of returning guitarist Joe D’Angelo (Umbersound) right off the bat. To top off the thought here, this song has more than a simple doom metal motif outlining its action but full on riff(s) in cycling variation, actual bones guiding its fleshed and nigh orchestral reaches to start. The title track is arguably one of the more emotionally charged beasts of the lot, carrying the momentum hot after the high of the opener and giving us more of vocalist/guitarist Rick Habeeb‘s impressive clean vocal range and more harmonized dual guitar leads to leave the song soaring in mind. It ends up being a fine example of the dichotomy of the prior LP wherein one moment might feel too heroic in its almost power metallic moments for some and too extreme for others, providing a certain depth of experience for anyone who enjoys the full spectrum available.

The apex of ‘epic’ heavy metal interest comes somewhere nearby the very middle of ‘Molded by Broken Hands‘ from my point of view as Grey Skies Fallen are still rifling through a few melodic black feeling shrugs and blasts in the first half of “I Can Hear Your Voice” a peaking sense of empowerment and struggle up the greater mountain to climb within the listening experience. They’d basically always had my interest up to and including this song on every listen and the album holds that consistency in an experting mode throughout; A big part of this immersive majesty felt throughout the full listen surely comes from the pairing of production/engineering from Colin Marston‘s Menegroth, The Thousand Caves studio as well as the final mix and master from the expertly suited hands of Dan Swanö, each working to present a proper capture of the rhythm section and the extreme footing of its movement while allowing the many faces of Habeeb’s vocals to lord over just as many supporting guitar layers. The result is an album which breathes well in its expansive nighttime space, crisp and cold in its surroundings but huge, outsized as the dramatic style of the band.

The second half of the full listen loses me a bit with “Cracks in Time” and only because it isn’t as grand and developed in its statement as every other ~6-7 minute piece on the album otherwise. In fact as if to compensate “Save Us” nearly overdoes it at the pulpit with its preachy prog metal feeling upturn feeling weirdly hopeful, and this is one of just a few points where the tone of the album threatened to lose its balance of dark and doomed movement. Though I didn’t enjoy every second of ’em there is a sincerity to the last two pieces on the album which feels deeply sentimental, or, at least feeling something vital to the soul on their way out. In this sense we’ve travelled through their headspace as a clear Point A to Point B sensation, what ails the mind and then what might retrieve it and rescue what extant solidarity can be salvaged between the remaining survivors.

This type of ‘dark metal’ is typically most sincere in the moment, fleeting in fits of passion, but in this case what convinces most is the bigger picture, the complete thought served in the passage guided-through. A delayed-release catharsis and a stunning ride altogether Grey Skies Fallen have done well to one-up the already accomplished high point offered by their previous album by honing in on a few different layers of classic traditions where their voice suitably splits the difference in its own right. Because it merges numerous worlds and timelines while presenting viably steeling heavy metal entertainment ‘Molded By Broken Hands‘ may very well prove their best and most wholly representative work to date. A high recommendation.

---