Progressive Sludge Trio VEXING to Release “Grand Reproach” on Ordovician Records

Just when you thought sludge metal couldn’t get any more outlandish or challenging, Colorado’s VEXING comes along. The band’s upcoming full-length debut, Grand Reproach, takes an already progressive and experimental sound to the next level with eight mind-scrapingly intense new songs.

Get your first taste of Grand Reproach with album track “The Mold,” streaming now at this location.

Ordovician Records will release Grand Reproach on CD, cassette, and digital formats on May 26. Pre-order at ordovicianrecords.bandcamp.com.

Grand Reproach track listing:

1) The Mold
2) Vanquishing Light
3) The Invisible Hand
4) Shallow Breath
5) Howling
6) Blunderbuss
7) Small Black Flame
8) Red Skies

Active since 2017, VEXING is a progressive sludge trio that doesn’t make the most soothing music. But that’s all by design.

With influences stemming from sludge acts like Yautja, and Inter Arma but also from more progressive acts like Russian Circles and even Rush – the music is a certain grinding brand of sludge that reaches towards a more dynamic sound.

The 2020 Ep Cradle captures an earlier era from the group, whereas the newest release Grand Reproach looks to change that sonic landscape

with striking guitar tones, fiercely spirited drums, and mercilessly relentless riffs, all on top of an undulating and frightening ambiance.

It’s an enveloping and obtuse experience that’ll leave you engaged with that tension you’ve always had.

Grand Reproach was written and produced by VEXING (Clayton Whitelaw, Garrett Jones, Jeff Malpezzi). The album was mixed and mastered by Mikey Allred from Dark Art Audio. Artwork by Ethan Lee McCarthy / Hell Simulation, with layout/design by Andrew Notsch.