From the guts of Matt McKechnie's expressive core comes the newest Graven offering: Zenith The Meadow.
Departing from the usual and personal sentiment of Matt's lyrics, Zenith is a straight concept record about a married, middle-aged man who lost his two young daughters in a horrific accident. Although the songs were written, recorded and produced over a 4 year period, the songs come from the soul of a man who is crying out and trying to find hope, meaning and the strength to survive in a dark and abysmal world.
Zenith is definitely Graven's most well-produced and sonically daring release to date. Heavy on synths, loud distorted guitars and thundering drums, Matt and the Graven posse are once again showing that they cannot be pegged down to one musical genre.
The album features guest appearances from a number of Matt's friends and fellow musicians (including Tyrone Warner, Dean Watson, Rehuel Ernest) and the sound production and mastering of Glen Teeple (who worked with Matt back in the Sunkissed Keilah days). Piecing this album together took Matt almost 2 full years to release as some of the songs were recorded through various recording mediums, in many different cities, throughout the years 2006-2011.
The incredible cover art was done by an exceptional artist from Salt Lake City, Utah named Michelle Condrat. While browsing the internet for some interesting designs, Matt found the exact picture he wanted for the cover and contacted Michelle who was super accommodating and very willing to come on board with the project.
Zenith The Meadow sounds like no other Graven offering to date and is, symbolically for the main character and the band, a departure to larger and greener pastures ahead.
Feel free to stream a few of the tracks here.
Press contact: matt@gravenrecords.com