MyGrain - Orbit Dance (2006)^{Release ID: 12032}

Fairly competent, easily digestible band that plagiarises Soilwork to an unacceptable degree.

There are way too many melodic death metal bands around for me to keep up with these days. Back in the nineties I was really into releases by the likes of At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames and Soilwork, all of which came from Sweden. But somewhere along the line a few of these bands decided to either throw in the towel (At the Gates) or go down a path of commercialism I just didn’t have a taste for (In Flames and to a lesser extent Soilwork). These regular disappointments led me to unconsciously give up on the sound and focus on other genres for a few years where things were a little more interesting and consistent. That means there are numerous popular acts today that I’ve given very little attention to, including Insomnium, Be'lakor, Mercenary and Scar Symmetry, all of whom I intend to check out in the coming months. All the above being said, I’ve decided to cut my modern melodic death metal teeth on Finnish band myGRAIN for the simple reason that they have a new album that’s just come out this year. Having absolutely no idea what the band sound like or who they might have been influenced by, I began by researching their background with a particular interest in how they decided it was a good idea to give their metal band a name closely related to a really bad headache.

As it turns out, there’s no impressive intellectual explanation for the moniker, with guitarist Matthew stating the following in an interview. “myGRAIN, that sounds pretty good, it just came out of nowhere and I thought it was a good name”. He went on to explain that “it’s not a negative thing to refer it to as migraine, like the headaches, it’s just you have ‘my’ and wheat and oat ‘grain’, so it’s meant to be positive.” In a moment of inspiration, vocalist Tommy gave the decision real clarity when he added that “And the grains are growing in our own field!” So there you have it! There can be no denying that owning grains, and indeed growing them in your own field, is an immensely positive idea, and since having it explained to me in such inspiring form, I’m stunned that no-one else has used the name for their band. Now that I’ve finished taking the piss out of them, what else did my research unveil? Formed in 2004, myGRAIN rose from the ashes of a progressive rock band named New Science Band, in which Tommy (vocals), Resistor (guitar) and Matthew (guitar) had all been part of. Deciding they wanted to create “rough metal with melodies”, they recruited DJ Locomotive (formerly of Terrorwheel and at some point associated with black metal band ...And Oceans) and started writing material.

This line-up, along with session bassist Jonas Kuhlberg, was responsible for a three-track demo in 2004, which is now readily available to download on the band’s website. Shortly afterwards they brought keyboardist Eve Kojo (formerly of Embers Left) into the fold, and in 2005 myGRAIN recorded a second demo entitled The Red Frame (also available on the website). It’s at this point that Jonas decided to join the band full time and Spinefarm Records contacted them to ink a deal, resulting in a full myGRAIN line-up (Tommy – vocals, Resistor – guitar, Matthew – guitar, Eve – synths, DJ Locomotive – drums and Jonas – bass) entering Sound Supreme Studio in November 2005 to record a debut album. Orbit Dance is the result, which was eventually released on April the 12th, 2006. With all that historical information out of the way, let me tell you how my re-introduction to melodic death metal is going. The same as it was when I departed, I’m afraid! I’m stunned at just how much the music on Orbit Dance sounds like the Soilwork I set aside around 2003, with any slight differences reminding me of other bands prominent around the same time. When New Science Band folded and these three friends decided they wanted to play “rough metal with melodies”, what they really meant was “Soilwork are fucking awesome man! Let’s start our own band and do exactly what they’re doing!”

Orbit Dance contains eleven tracks that follow a very old and strict formula. You know the one! A synth assisted intro attempts to give each track its own identity before heavy yet simplistic riffs, mid-paced drumming and typical Swedish half-growled vocals kick in. Once the verse has run its up-tempo course, the band shifts down the velocity for a sort of pre-chorus that still utilises aggressive vocals, before finally giving way to a cheesy, admittedly catchy clean chorus that destroys any aggression and energy the track once held. It’s an old blueprint that undoubtedly works well in a live environment where kiddies can bang their heads in short bursts before singing in union, all while updating their Facebook and Twitter accounts on worship-raised iPhones. Despite my disgust at how little myGRAIN progressed a sound that was close to a decade old already, I have to shamefully admit that a few of the tracks on Orbit Dance manage to hit their mark and get stuck in my head in spite of my attempts to despise them. Opener Plastic and W.I.F. are not too bad and just about every track has at least one section that works in a harmless, easily digestible sort of way. In the end myGRAIN’s debut has done nothing to make me regret spending so many years all but ignoring this style of music and I’m not particularly confident that their other albums will change my mind.