Grayscale - 'Adornment' (Album Review)

I've been following Grayscale for years. Their debut Leaving was a top 10 release for the site the year it came out. I enjoyed last years What We're Missing and I was instantly highly anticipating Adornment after the band announced they had signed to Fearless and released "Atlantic".

Adornment shows a band that has not only grown some, but has also refined a lot from Leaving. That release had a great pop/punk sound while What We're Missing showed the band exploring some new ground with more emo/punk leanings. The band has come into their sound finding the elements of both of those releases and marrying them together in a nice way on Adornment. This is the best production the band has ever had, in my opinion, and I much prefer the overall sound they got this time around. This album sounds rich, dynamic, and masterfully done. It is honestly one of the top two or three albums I have heard this year, so far. They nailed just about everything they were trying to accomplish with this album. It sort of reminds me of when I heard The Dangerous Summer's Reach For The Sun and was blown away at how good everything was on it. That's the feeling I get with this album. It's as good as I want and exceeded my expectations, which were pretty high.

The acoustic song "Forever Yours" has this great poppy, haunting feel. The lyrics are exceptional and the vocal performance is really great. "Atlantic" is a great powerful slice of emo pop/punk. The chorus is so catchy that I dare you not to get it stuck in your head. "Fever Dreams" has really great sounding guitar and drums. It's a melodic song and the well controlled vocals glide over the song in the softer parts before they erupt with nice power and energy as the song gets heavier in the choruses. I really like it a lot.

Overall, this album is easily the best thing Grayscale has ever done and seeing as it is their Fearless Records debut I think they are going to not only fit in with their roster but find their fan base growing. I wouldn't be surprised to see them grow to As It Is heights in no time (Patty makes a pretty great appearance on this album). This album has some great emotions within the songs, the lyrics are really good, and the songwriting is some of the best the band has ever done. I can't recommend this album enough. I really like it a lot and I have a pretty strong feeling that it will be pretty high on my end of the year list. Check it out!