Sun Ra, Albert Ayler, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Rashied Ali, John Cage, Einstürzende Neubauten, Throbbing Gristle, Wolf Eyes, Sonic Youth, The Stooges, Black Flag, Minor Threat, Syd Barrett / Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Neurosis, Monarch, Nick Cave / The Birthday Party, Classic Aussie Punk & Hard R&B Rock!
Sounds Like
LIVE @ Roadburn / Beyond the Pale in Tilburg, Netherlands: 25/05/2009
LIVE @ La Malterie in Lille, France: 26/05/2009
"Not many display the DIY, "grab the bull by the horns" attitude the way Australia's Grey Daturas do. Completely uncompromising music and total dedication to touring initially warmed our hearts to these amazing people. Not content to sit around and wait for something to happen, or for all the imaginary conditions to be right, Grey Daturas have toured the United States several times, mostly in the true underground art and noise spaces. Expense, frustration and difficulties be damned, they show more balls than most bands that live in the U.S. or Europe.
Not many would reciprocate, and dare to throw it all to the wind and go to Grey Datura's part of the world. Uniting krautrock like jams, unstructured free noise, and psychedelic heavy rock into something unusual and heartfelt it will be a true joy to have their pure attitude and sound at Beyond the Pale"
Steve Von Till / Neurosis
"Grey Daturas hit the stage like a multi-car pile up! Heralded as a band with no songs or melodies, it's hard to really grasp what how awful 45 minutes of full volume feedback can be, without actually enduring ear bleed"
Carolyn Dempsey - Inpress Magazine (Australia)
When asked what he thought of Grey Daturas, Red replied:
"It's like Hendrix in the 60's, no one really got it".
Red - Sound engineer @ Hotel Great Northern (Byron Bay, Australia)
“Grey Daturas may very well be to Australia what Boris is to Japan or Sunn O))) is to the United States”
MIKE ASS-KICK HALEY - Heart Attack (USA)
“If the Melbourne sunshine puts a smile on most of its native's faces, this must be compensated for by the scowls of the Grey Daturas, an improvisational three piece intent on wiping all that is bright, clean and decent from the sun kissed land and drowning it in a muddy grave in the gape of the Pacific”
NICK SOUTHGATE - The Wire (UK)
“A perfect mix of churning metallic rock, New Zealand style free noise, freaked out psychedelic space rock and buzzing rumbling drone rock. So so good.”
Andeeee - Aquarius Records (USA)
“Sounds fucking great”
David Keenan - Volcanic Tongue (UK)
MANAGMENT / BOOKINGS:
Robert MacManus - Heathen Skulls
Po Box 253 Brunswick East
Melbourne Australia 3057
Email: greydaturas@gmail.com
www.heathenskulls.com
www.myspace.com/heathenskulls
Ph: 61 418772816
RECORDS LABELS WE'VE WORKED WITH:
Neurot Recordings
Heathen Skulls
Diagnosis Don't Recordings
Crucial Blast
20 Buck Spin
Throne
Conspiracy
Jerk
Old English Spelling Bee
Blackset Rainbow
Crashing Jets
Important
Rocket Recordings
Isolatednowwaves
Important
DISCOGRAPHY:
The Grey Daturas
CDR, Black Mountain/Sonic Advisor,2002 - Australia
Live Volume 1
3 inch CDR, Live EP, Diagnosis... DON'T! reCoRdings, 2003m - Australia
Live Volume 2
3 inch CDR, Live EP, Diagnosis... DON'T! reCoRdings, 2003 - Australia
Dead in the Woods
CD, Second Album, Crashing Jets, 2004 - Australia
CD, Album, US re-issue, Crucial Blast, 2007 - US
CD, Album, Japanese re-issue, SMD Records, 2008 - Japan
Copper / Silver (collaboration with Yellow Swans)
2 X CD, Jyrk, 2005 - US
2 x 12inch LP, re-issue on Olde English Spelling Bee, 2006 - US
All I See Is Nothing
CD, Live EP, Black Mountain / Diagnosis... DON'T! reCoRdings, 2005 - Australia
Yellow Swans / Grey Daturas - Australian Tour EP
CD, EP, Heathen Skulls, 2005 - Australia
Live at the Rob Roy Hotel
2 x 3inch CDR, Live EP, Diagnosis... DON'T! reCoRdings, 2006 - Australia
Blood Trail
CD, US Tour EP, Heathen Skull, 2006 - Australia
The Black Plague (Split with Wolf Eyes)
CD, Heathen Skulls, 2006 - Australia
12inch LP, Conspiracy, 2006 - Belgium
Path of Niners
CD, EP, Heathen Skulls, 2006 - Australia
CD, EP, UK re-issue with a bonus track, Rocket Recordings, 2007 - UK
Grey Daturas / Shearing Pinx – S/T
Cassette, Split EP with Shearing Pinx, isolatednowwaves, 2006 - Canada
Dawn of the Catalyst
CD, EP, Split with Monarch, 20 Buck Spin, 2007 - US
12inch EP, Split with Monarch, Throne, 2007 – Spain
Return to Disruption
CD, Third Album, Heathen Skulls, 2008: OUT NOW! - Australia
CD, Third Album, Neurot Recordings, 2008: OUT NOW! - US
Grey Daturas European Tour 7"
European Tour 7": limited to 300 and hand numbered. Side A features a new track called Baron Planet, Side B has an etching of Grey Daturas font / logo. Heathen Skulls, 2009 - Australia
COMING SOON:
Return to Disruption 12"
12" version on 170 gram wax released on HEATHEN SKULLS - April 15th, 2009
Live in Tokyo
12" Live Album, Important Records: Mid 2008- US
Live @ 3PBS Radio
12" Live EP, Important Records: Mid 2008 - US
Live @ Rob Roy (2002)
12" Live Album, Blackest Rainbow: Mid 2008 - UK
RETURN TO DISRUPTION - REVIEW
Aquarius Records (San Francisco, USA): May 2nd 2008
By: Andeeeeeeee!
Huzzah! Our favorite instrumental down-under doom-bringers return (to disruption) with this new
full-length, the prolific Melbourne trio's debut for Neurosis' Neurot label. It's a good fit, of course, this should go over well with the whole post-rock/metal crowd, this album often grindingly hypnotic, the Grey Daturas' lumbering sheets of distorto-drone skullflowering forth over a roiling bed of precision percussive clangor right from the get-go! Their threatening waves of pure heaviness, sharpened into a drill-drone of an attack, also occasionally take detours into areas of abstract ambience, the guitars of Bonnie Mercer and Rob MacManus carving psychedelic feedback sculptures, then tightening again back into full metallic impact, driven by the skittering drums of Robert Manson.
As heavy as they are (which is HEAVY) you can't really call the Grey Dats a metal band. They're in that quasi-metal realm with the likes of SUNNO))), Boris, Harvey Milk, and Nadja, perhaps, with a certain amount of experimental lo-fi fuckery going on that reminds us of many of their freenoise comrades over in nearby New Zealand... The title track itself is a clattering, pottering about, like something the Dead C would come up with, while the track called "Undisturbed" is anything but, sounding like a violin or creaking door hinge dying a slow and dismal death. And the high-end scraping skree of "Balance Of Convenience" should peel some paint. And then, as already mentioned, there's all the juggernaut, trance-inducing, spaced-out, instrumental doom rock post rock surging through tracks like "Beyond And Into The Ulimate" and "Neuralgia".
The Grey Daturas definitely like all the varieties of drone! And fans of, what should we call it, avant-doom, or drone-doom, or whatever, should like all varieties of the Grey Daturas, starting with this disc if you haven't already made their acquaintance, covering all the bases as it does!
Sputnik Music review: July 13th 2008
By: Andrew Hartwig
Grey Daturas are Australia premiere noise rock/drone/post-metal band and if you've never heard of them, that's probably why. However, the reasons that you should have are many; they're on Neurot Recordings, they've collaborated with artists like Wolf Eyes and Yellow Swans and they've released one of the best albums of its genre this year.
Return to Disruption is the third album from Grey Daturas and their most accessible, and perhaps their best to date. Comparisons to groups like Sunn O))), Wolf Eyes, Boris and Neurosis are certainly inevitable, but Grey Daturas really have their own thing going that manages to combine many of the best elements of those groups with many of their own unique qualities (they don't rehearse and their live shows are improvisational, for example). To elaborate, Grey Daturas certainly have the density and often the tunelessness of Sunn O))), but they manage to be far more dynamic. They have the abrasive qualities of Wolf Eyes without being completely brutal 100% of the time. They have the eclectic nature of Boris in terms of influences but are far more focused and they have the heaviness and epic qualities of Neurosis without any of the structure.
Essentially, Return to Disruption is heavy album that combines elements of drone, noise, metal and avant-garde music into a varied but cohesive piece. Opener "Beyond and Into the Ultimate" is the album's fastest track with catchy drumming and dense, tuneless riffing while tracks like the title track, "Balance of Convenience" and "Undisturbed" are made up from some of the most abrasive noise ever put to tape and are remarkably sparse and minimal. Perhaps where the album is at its best though, is on its three longer tracks; "Answered in the Negative", "Demarcation Disputes/Unity" and "Neuralgia", all of which are incredibly dense songs dominated by feedback and low end drone. Even with the ridiculous density of each of those tracks, Grey Daturas manage to craft heavy, memorable riffs and bring them to the front of the mix, creating a sonically overwhelming aesthetic while ultimately bringing each piece of music to a meaningful conclusion.
Simply put, Return to Disruption represents mastery from one of Australia's most consistent and hard working bands, managing brutality, density, memorability, experimentation, epic composition and eclecticism all in a neat seven track package. Highly, highly recommended.
RETURN TO DISRUPTION is available now at a record store near you!!!!
Released on Heathen Skulls (Australia) & Neurot Recordings (US / Europe)
Neurot Recordings is distributed through Revolver (US) & Sounthern (Europe)
For Australian orders please contact Heathen Skulls direct:
Robert MacManus @ Heathen Skulls: mailorderstuff@gmail.com
STORES in AUSTRALIA thats stock RETURN TO DISRUPTION:
JB Hi Fi: All stores
MELBOURNE:
Missing Link
Metropolis
Greville Records
Collectors Corner
Polyester (Both City & Fitzroy)
International Trash
SYDNEY:
Red Eye
Utopia
BRISBANE:
Rocking Horse
ADELAIDE:
Big Star (All 3 stores)
PERTH:
78's
DADA Records
GREY DATURAS last ever tour this November's Friend Space (Top 37)
GREY DATURAS last ever tour this November has 1919 friends.
If you haven't already heard, for the month of November only we are offering 250 business cards AND 100 postcards to advertise your band/business for only $40!
If you are interested in taking advantage of this offer then email:
pedanticmusicpromotions@gmail.com
We can forward you the photoshop template which you can use to create your own artwork, or for $60 we can create the artwork for you, based on the ideas you have.
It's very simple, and delivery to anywhere in Australia is included in the price!!
Last ever tour! I guess this means you're not going to travel half-way around the world just to play in Austin? Anyway, you guys are great and a total inspiration.