Tour Dates: The Grand Astoria

Usually not something I do, but I think I owe The Grand Astoria for giving me their newest album (check out the review and FREE download), so here are their upcoming tour dates:

01.07-Pskov (RU)-Tir
01.08-St.Petersburg (RU)-Mod
01.14-Moscow (RU)-Tabula Rasa
01.15-Ryazan (RU)-DK
01.16-Vladimir (RU)-Central Bar
01.21-Tallinn (EST)-Rockstars
01.22-Viljandi (EST)-Tehas
01.25-Daugavpils (LV)-Rockabilly
01.27-Prague (CZ)-Final Art Music Club
02.03-Leeuwarden (NL)-Mukkes
02.04-Amsterdam (NL)-The Cave
02.05-Zwolle (NL)-Eureka
02.06-Gerolstein (GER)-Nachtcafe
02.11-Alytus (LT)-House Box
02.12-Jelgava (LV)-Balereja
02.13-Preili (LV)-Pakac

So if you happen to live in Russia, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, Germany and the other countries which I don't know by their abbreviation (LV, NL, LT) go hear some sweet metal!

New Album: The Grand Astoria - Omnipresence (With Free Download)

Also seen on Heavy Planet:

The folks of the stoner/doom rocking band The Grand Astoria have been kind enough to send me a copy of their band new album, Omnipresence, launching today. And while The Soda Shop beat me to it, you came to hear what The Klepto has to say, and I will not let you down, so here it goes.
Now that I've heard their first two albums, I'm a little better versed in this group, and my first impressions of the album is that this is a bit of a different record. It's got more varied sounds and influences, many of which are much blatantly mixed into the music. The first track, "Doomsday Party," is a rock 'n roller, closer to something The Atomic Bitchwax would release, while the next song. "Hungry & Foolish," is a grooving straight-forward stoner song. The third song, "Mania Grandiosa," sounds straight off of a Black Sabbath album; think "Jack the Stripper/Fairies Wear Boots" off of Paranoid and you would have a perfect idea of the sound of the song (mostly in the beginning and with the vocals throughout, but you get the idea). Then the next song, the instrumental "Omni-absence," is a return to the previously known style of the band. The rest of Omnipresence jumps around all of these styles until track 7, "The Song of Hope," which is downright funk, fucking weird. The album is all over, but it works, it really works. It's the right measure of eclecticness and bitchin' music that makes is sound amazing.

New Band: The Grand Astoria

Also seen on Heavy Planet:

Now, I thought I had already heard the first album by The Grand Astoria (their self-titled) and was all geared up to do a double album review. As it turns out, however, I have not had the pleasure of listening to their first, so that plan is scrapped and I'm diving into The Grand Astoria II with no real prior knowledge of the band or their style. And here we go:
After reviewing The Divine Baze Orchestra, Sloath, and Barn Burner today I think that The Grand Astoria is a perfect blending of all of their styles. II contains slow doomy songs with no lyrics, ala Sloath, but with psychedelic grooves throughout, and less sludge/drone; more like The Divine Baze Orchestra. That was my thoughts on their first song, "Enjoy The View," and because of it, I thought the rest of the record was going to be another that treads the line between stoner and doom (not a bad thing!), but I was surprised.