10 Great Obscure Post-Rock Bands

Portland, Oregon-based Grails have notched up seven studio albums, with their debut, The Burden Of Hope, coming in 2003. An initial line-up of Alex Hall (guitar), Emil Amos (drums), Paul Spitz (guitar), Timothy Horner (violin) and Bill Slater, (piano/bass) has changed somewhat over the years, with Spitz being replaced by Zak Riles and the departures of Horner and Slater reducing the unit to a trio.

Nevertheless, they continue to lay down some fascinating music. 2017's Chalice Hymanl, the band's last studio offering to date, makes for a great case in point. Their slow-burning, somewhat introspective grooves are contrasted nicely against cutting, soaring guitars which fold, evolve and fade like the hypnotic wave-forms on a screen-saver.

It's testament to the vision and enthusiasm of the remaining musicians that they continue to produce such polished and compelling records. “No one else sounds like Grails,” reads the ambitious statement on the band's website, which accurately describes their sound as an “...electronic-prog hybrid...displaying a profound resonance, both musically and emotionally.”