Grey Skies Fallen - Molded by Broken Hands (2024)^{Release ID: 51275}

From New York, Grey Skies Fallen have been around for a while and have stayed relatively obsolete in the greater doom metal scene. But seeing a positive review from Sonny gave me confidence that a smaller act could make a dent in my Fallen year-end-list for 2024. So what did we end up getting with Molded by Broken Hands? Well, a lot actually.

Molded by Broken Hands is death doom, epic doom, gothic metal and perhaps a little funeral doom with its compositional techniques. Grey Skies Fallen have a wide soundscape in their music and makes this record oddly progressive in a way. And the album is very well put together all the same. Just listen to those wild tempo/style changes during the bridge of "No Place For Sorrow." Normally I wouldn't be the biggest fan of such wild changes (especially on a doom metal album), but despite the lack of preparation, their incessant nature makes them super endearing. 

I won't lie, first impressions of this album were not great with the opener "A Twisted Place in Time" for the reasons that were mentioned previously. But as I already mentioned, Grey Skies Fallen have a way of making these seemingly unrelated phrases work together through songwriting and repetition. And through that songwriting, the album stays engaging up to its final notes. A few of the doom metal albums I've reviewed recently all have the same problem; where the record does not do nearly enough in the soundscapes/compositions and leaves the album staggering to its conclusion. Grey Skies Fallen, fade out ending withstanding, end Molded by Broken Hands with the same level of commitment to the work as they did at the start. "Knowing That You're There" has the same heart and soul as the opener because it hasn't been bogged down by seven similar sounding doom dirges previously.

The production can be a little shaky at times, but it's mostly good. I like how the synthesized strings are not present throughout the entire album and only appear occasionally for additional weight. The bass presence is felt tremendously helping the albums thematic arc. If anything, it's probably the harsh vocals that sound the most out of place. They aren't horrible, but they tend to sound too fry and hushed, while the booming, gothic cleans tower over the instrumental. At least the record has a decent mix of harsh-to-clean vocals so it isn't as upfront of an issue.

The albums ending on a slightly optimistic tone only exemplifies this albums variety and why I enjoy this album as much as I did. Grey Skies Fallen are making high quality doom metal under almost everyone's noses and yet no one bothers to stop and smell the roses. 

Best Songs: Molded by Broken Hands, I Can Hear Your Voice, Cracks in Time, Knowing That You're There

Formed in 1996 as Eve of Mourning and fast approaching three decades of existence, Grey Skies Fallen are another one of a plethora of seriously underrated doom metal bands. None of the New York four-piece's six albums have even got to the modest heights of 100 ratings here on RYM, which is a great shame as these are clearly a talented bunch of musicians who deserve more recognition.

The band's approach to songwriting is quite progressive, with a number of shifts in tone during each track which lends them a story-telling, narrative feel. They don't stick to out and out doom metal, nor do they focus on just one style, but rather draw together strands of death doom, epic doom, conventional doom, gothic metal and progressive metal into grand, epic soundscapes that are imbued with an imperial bombast, yet are also tinged with melancholy and regret, like visiting the ruins of a once mighty empire, whose glory days are a distant memory. As well as a deft skill for writing a certain kind of bombastic doom metal, Grey Skies Fallen are also extremely adept performers, with the band sounding exceedingly tight. Guitarist Rick Habeeb also provides vocals and has a fine voice, with convincing deathly growls as well as really nice, soaring cleans and is never left wanting. Interestingly he is also vocalist with grindcore crew Buckshot Facelift, illustrating just how versatile a singer he really is.

The doomy riffs display a nice range of variety from the gloomily gothic a la My Dying Bride to the bombastic and epic, straight out of Rich Walker's Solstice song book, and all points in between. In fact, I would suggest Rich is quite the influence for Grey Skies Fallen because a sizeable proportion of the soloing sounds like it is delivered by guitarists well-acquainted with Solstice's New Dark Age album. In fact the more I listen to this, the stronger the comparison with New Dark Age grows, with even the production sound being similar and anyone who knows my view on NDA knows that is definitely a good thing in my eyes (or ears, as the case may be). I think this is an album that benefits from repeated listens and a cursory exploration may fail to unpeel it's layers, leaving the listener unfulfilled, but time getting to know it is time well-spent as I found it getting better every time I returned to it. I would also suggest listening to it on a decent set-up as I suspect a phone speaker almost certainly won't do it justice.

Ultimately Grey Skies Fallen are superbly talented musicians and songwriters who have languished in obscurity for far too long and Molded By Broken Hands is a high quality doom metal release that deserves a far wider audience than it is likely to garner.