Yet another side project has found the space to rise to the surface, due to the enforced 18-month touring break artists have had to deal with. Times of Grace is the brain child of Adam Dutkiewicz and Jesse Leach, before the latter returned to Killswitch Engage, and managed to turn some heads with their unexpectedly exceptional debut “Hymn of a Broken Man”.
More melodic, more melancholic, more varied material compared to KSE, with Adam D’s vocals complementing Leach and helping to shape Times of Grace’s idiosyncrasy. “Songs of Loss and Separation” follows the same recipe. The two protagonists, in terms of delivery, are really at their very best, offering clean and brutal vocals that are in perfect harmony with the (depressing) lyrical content. However, compositionally speaking, they didn’t quite reach the harder goal, that is to create a better or at least equal record to “Hymn of a Broken Man”. Despite the fact that the whole thing is a pleasure to listen to, I would only put “Far From Heavenless” in the goosebumps category. Also interesting to hear Adam D channeling his inner Kurt Cobain during “Bleed Me”.
