Imagine, if you will indulge me, Hail Spirit Noir. Subtract the black metal, all songs but two, then add stoner rock and multiply the length of the remaining songs by four. This is as close an approximation as can be construed for a review catering to metalheads as to the sound of The Mighty Few by The Grand Astoria. Or you could use theirs: “psychedelic fuzz rock having sex with heavy metal”. Either or. I often find stoner rock can border on lethargic but on this, the sixth full-length in as many years by these crazy Russians, there are so many ideas packed into its two tracks and fifty-minute duration that I can’t help but admire their ambition and revel in their success.
The first track, “Curse of the Ninth,” proves a very fitting title. Referring, of course, to the classical music superstition that the ninth symphony of great composers will be their last (somewhat like the 27 Club, but for the mighty and cultured), it transitions between various movements and is most impressive in its totality. To name a few of the sounds at play here, it opens with a slow, gentle passage overlaid with porn jazz through its saxophone and jazz keyboard. The groovy guitar lead kicking in at 2:50 (which recurs at 23:25 to bring the track together) is thick and heavy but has just the right hook to ensure you aren’t going anywhere once it’s started. The vocals straddle the fine line between incredibly smooth and maniacally strained, and the vocal harmonies employed in the breakdown at 20:50 are a perfect respite, especially when things are stepped up with the epic female vox at 23:00. The East-influenced breakdown at 6:40 is something entirely different and the almost-imperceptibly subtle jazz lounge crescendo starting at 11:54 builds to a surprisingly dense climax. It’s a huge song and one I’ve grown intimately familiar with as it encourages many listens to unfurl all its intricacies. From: https://www.angrymetalguy.com/things-you-might-have-missed-2015-the-grand-astoria-the-mighty-few/
