NATHAN GRAY: UNTIL THE DARKNESS TAKES US

The Book: Nathan Gray lets flow his heart and mind to craft a searing, inspirational self-portrait. Here his humanity is naked and his passions conjured as Gray identifies his strengths and weaknesses to forge his identity. His vitality infuses the journey from childhood repression towards ever-greater confidence and liberation. The boy may have set the fire, fanning embers into an angry blaze consuming false starts, but the man ignites a nova, brightly shimmering from that citadel of unconquerable joy heralding self-deification.

The Music: Gray wields an impressive array of styles to here offer the essence of personal godhood wrought from struggle. From bombastic grandeur to “chamber music” textures, with subtle connecting transitional passages layered with spoken tracks “quoted” from other sources, this album makes for a very flexible and evolving soundscape with deep perspective. These epitaphs, declarations and anthems will sweep you along in this powerful landmark in Gray’s musical self-monument!

—Magus Peter H. Gilmore