Anyone who heard last years haunting Open Heart Zoo courtesy of a certain car manufacturer's TV campaign will know that Martin Grech is more suited to creating sonic landscapes than simple music. Having recently performed with a 40 piece orchestra at St Pauls Church in Covent Garden and a successful debut behind him, Grech has come a long way from the humble surroundings of Aylesbury where his career began.
Guiltless is a harrowing highlight of recent album Unholy, a macabre, eight minute ambient, goth-rock behemoth showcasing the more sinister side to Grech's song-writing talents. Industrial drums and atmospheric keyboards provide the backdrop to a reverb-drenched guitar riff which is just discordant enough to be bleak and unnerving rather than melodic. Grech's vocals range from Trent Reznor-esque hush to delicate and fragile, backed up by what sounds like a chamber of monks and ravaging, overdriven guitar in the trauma inducing chorus.
It's a dark and dramatic listen. In the span of the unedited version, drums break, everything falls away to leave a haunting Grech accapella and the orchestra sections are more warped, tune-free and sinister than anything The Velvet Underground ever threw into the mix, courtesy of first class production by Grech's producer and song writing partner, Paul Ross. More than anything, it's a vital and captivating piece of music, rather than being disposal or listener friendly Guiltless is sinister and unsettling as well as being instantly memorable.
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