Out today: THE GRASSHOPPER LIES HEAVY - HEAVY

HEAVY, the aptly titled new album by San Antonio, Texas crushers The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, is out today on Learning Curve Records. 

Sludgy and fiery, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy (a name inspired by a Philip K. Dick novel) rocks like an intense reimagining of Mastodon at their prime. But a journey through TGLH's back catalog reveals an adventurous project, operating on two fronts. Entirely instrumental albums such as 2014's All Sadness, Grinning Into Flow and 2017's Cavern (the soundtrack to a short film, created with the help of Bob Catlin of Pigface and Psychic TV) saw the band exploring meditative, ambient realms. 

“TGLH has always been a band with two sides; one side, this super heavy thing and the other side, more cinematic or post-rock,” states founder James Woodard. On HEAVY, Woodard – backed by the ace musicianship of guitarist James Cameron Taylor, bassist Oscar Moreno, and drummers Steven Barrera and Luke Zachary Mitchell – has chosen to commit fully to his most metallic tendencies and the result is a totally gripping experience. "I really wanted to challenge myself on this album," he says. "Some of the songs are the most difficult songs to perform, I’ve ever written in this band. They’re also a love letter to my inspirations. You’ll hear Sepultura and Napalm Death homages on this record, if you listen closely."

For those missing the band's more introspective work, Woodard hints that there is more to come: "You'll just have to wait for the next album."

Stream HEAVY and buy it, here: https://thegrasshopperliesheavy.bandcamp.com/album/heavy-2

Stream the official "Lyrics are Hard" music video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDy8U8Wtw8Y

Stream the official "We Are All the Antichrist" music video (featuring vocals by Capra's Crow Lotus), here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKfr2DHn-q0

"Post-metal/doom/sludge chaos agents The Grasshopper Lies Heavy... Their upcoming record, HEAVY, both purports to be and actually is."
–The Bad Penny

"Sludgy and all the way ignited... an unrelenting heaviness that sounds ferocious from start to finish."
–Destroy//Exist

"What The Grasshopper Lies Heavy steamroll out with HEAVY is some good ol’ fashioned riff-forward, chunky-waves-smashin’-into-your-eardrums brand of AmRep-appropriate noise rock... In yet another year packed with exceptional noise rock releases, where finding your flavor of choice is every bit as paralyzing as choosing a fucking ice cream flavor, HEAVY stands out."
–Heavy Blog Is Heavy

"There’s a groove in the wrath displayed by this group that’s undeniable. It’s definitely trying to grasp you by the ear lobes and force you to pay attention — and that’s a good thing."

–MetalSucks

"This album is as catchy as Torche on their best day and as thick as Crowbar on their worst… seriously, that GOOD. These eight tracks are an ingenious class on how to write a fistful of earworms and keep the metalheads coming back for more while simultaneously slaying all the mathcore kids at the blackjack table."
–Nine Circles

"HEAVY specializes in mid-tempo assaults, lethal grooves, and cathartic explosions... It’s the sort of riff-writing acumen that made Mastodon’s Remission so infectious, but here it is filtered through the pummeling power of early Coalesce."
–No Clean Singing