Burning Off Impurities, the fourth full-length from Portland, Oregon’s Grails, sounds a bit like the soundtrack to a grainy film set on desolate country roads where ominous forces lurk. Which is to say the four-piece band from Portland continues its exploration into the dark side of instrumental rock, this time adding chords akin to Tibetan chants and elements of psychedelia. It’s not all gloom and doom though, and the careful listener is rewarded with hints of uplifting ambiance that surface in unexpected places on the tracks.

The band turned heads in 2004 with Black Tar Prophecies, another album of portentous build-ups and reckless chord progressions. Burning, which hits record stores on May 1, 2007, marks the guys’ debut on Brooklyn’s Temporary Residence imprint, also home to the likes of Explosions in the Sky, Eluvium, and Cex.

Tracklisting
1. Soft Temple
2. More Extinction
3. Silk Rd
4. Drawn Curtains
5. Outer Banks
6. Dead Vine Blues
7. Origin-ing
8. Burning Off Impurities

Following the release of the album, the band takes their show on a short tour through selected U.S. cities with World’s End Girlfriend and labelmates MONO.

Tour Dates
05/03 Austin, TX: Emo’s Jr.
05/04 Houston, TX: Mink
05/05 Baton Rouge, LA: Spanish Moon
05/07 Orlando, FL: The Social
05/08 Jacksonville, FL: TSI
05/09 Birmingham, AL: Bottletree
05/10 Atlanta, GA: The Earl
05/11 Mt. Pleasant, SC: The Village Tavern
05/12 Chapel Hill, NC: Local 506
05/13 Charlottesville, VA: Satellite Ballroom
05/14 Baltimore, MD: Ottobar
05/15 Washington, DC: Rock and Roll Hotel
05/16 Philadelphia, PA: First Unitarian Church
05/17 New York, NY: Bowery Ballroom