(Mammoth / Attic Records - 1996)

The bass on Gilt is a clean stream of low end rumble. Illusively cloaked on smaller speaker systems, large woofers reintroduce the sub-100hz tenor into the mix. Machines of Loving Grace's lyrics are constructs of reference. Subjects and selected subject matter is alluded to and rarely stated directly. It's an interesting Whitmanesque technique that is slowly becoming an identifiable Grace device.

There is a strong cinematic quality to every Grace release. While Gilt is not necessarily the deepest incarnation of this, it is definitely their widest in terms of thematic ambition. The album is a halfway between their eponymous debut's sleekness and 1993's admirable Concentration.

Not as intense as the former Gilt does feature a richer thematic development. The Einsterzende Neubauten samples (taken from E.N.'s 1/2 Mensch ) contribute to the impressionistic dimension of the album. Serpico sounds absolutely huge.

(Nick Sagos)