Following a period of working on other projects, Dave and Kev decided to get together to record more material that satisfied their urge to create electronic, dark ambient soundscapes. Bringing only rough, unformed ideas as a starting point, they quickly expanded these to compose 5 tracks which they dubbed “Chalice”.

Recorded utilising traditional instruments, found sounds, and electronics, this material differed from previous releases by the increased prevalence of vocals which had previously been heavily manipulated or blended into the material. Now taking more of a centre stage position, Kev’s voice gave the material a new focus and allowed Gnostic Grain to expand their sound away from the more sequenced electronic material that drove their earlier recordings.

Whilst maintaining the feel of previous releases with extended, hypnotic, sonic journeys, the album demonstrates the artists willingness to increasingly incorporate “real” sounds into their palette without detaching from the path that they have been following since the release of “0000” in 2020. Gnostic Grain’s goal, since that release, has been to produce music that lies outside the norm and relies more on instinct than format. They aim to produce a product that the listener can use to remove themselves from reality and to enter another state of mind, one that, they hope, conjures imagery for the listener.

Following the recording sessions, it was clear that both Kev and Dave had fresh ideas for future recordings and they agreed to meet up again in the very near future to record them as a follow up release to Chalice. They returned to Redwall to record in August and left with enough material for their next album (TBA) before mixing Chalice at Earthlab.