Times Of Grace - Songs of Loss & Separation (2LP) - Opaque White Vinyl

Times Of Grace have always felt like a quiet conversation between old friends who have seen a bit of life. Adam Dutkiewicz and Jesse Leach first made that clear with The Hymn of a Broken Man in 2011, then let a decade of living settle in before returning with Songs of Loss & Separation on 16 July 2021 through Wicked Good Records. You can hear the years in it. Not as rust, more like weathered grain. It is the sound of two musicians who know exactly where each other’s scars sit, and how to turn them into songs that glow rather than just ache.

If you come in expecting Killswitch Engage part two, you will be surprised. The muscle is here, but it moves differently. The opener The Burden of Belief is a slow burn, all clean guitars and hushed harmonies that let Jesse sit right at your shoulder. When the heaviness arrives it feels earned, not forced. Rescue follows with a pulse that finally cuts loose, a reminder that Adam’s riff sense can still crack concrete, though he has more interest in space and shade than piling on breakdowns. Medusa drags the tempo through thick tar, a sludgy crawl that suits the record’s weathered mood, while Mend You pares everything back to something close to confessional rock. Dan Gluszak’s drumming keeps the whole album grounded, swinging where it needs to, holding a straight line when the vocals threaten to spill over.

Adam produced the album, and his fingerprints are obvious in the way the guitars bloom and recede. Layers appear and vanish like headlights in rain. He and Jesse swap vocal roles with easy trust, sometimes crossing into harmonies that feel almost too intimate for a metal adjacent record, then snapping back with a roar. The melodies are unafraid of beauty, even when the lyrics talk of endings. That tension gives the album its charge. It is heavy music that refuses to hide its face.

The title is not a tease. Interviews around the release made it clear that these songs were born from real upheaval, including divorce and the kind of long shadow grief that lingers after the dust settles. You do not need a lyric sheet to catch it. There are repeated images of distance, of bridges that hold but sway, of trying to meet someone halfway and realising the map has changed. The writing never wallows though. It leans toward acceptance, even a strange peace. That tone is what lifts Songs of Loss & Separation into something that lasts past its first listens.

It was a return that critics heard straight away, and the record picked up warm notices from the heavy press, with outlets like Kerrang! and Revolver praising the emotional weight and restraint. The decade gap matters here. The Hymn of a Broken Man carried the spark of a new project. This one sounds like a band that has lived with its own identity for a long time, even while its members kept other plates spinning. You can hear the confidence to go quiet for a full verse, to leave a chorus unresolved, to let a guitar line drift rather than hammer home a point.

If you are the kind of listener who still buys albums to sit with, this one suits the ritual. Songs of Loss & Separation vinyl gives the guitars more air and the low end a warmer, breathing feel, and it puts Jesse’s voice right where it needs to be, centre and human. I found my copy after a lazy Saturday browse in a Melbourne record store, filed between Killswitch and Therapy? in a way that made perfect sense. If you prefer the couch, it is easy to buy Times Of Grace records online, and this pressing sits nicely alongside other Times Of Grace albums on vinyl. For those building a heavy shelf in vinyl records Australia circles, it is a smart pick that gets played rather than displayed.

What sticks after a few spins is how carefully the band shapes hope. Not the bright kind, more a quiet resilience. The guitars reach up, the drums nudge forward, the vocals tilt toward the light. It is not a reinvention, and it does not try to be. It is two long time collaborators, plus a drummer who locks in with taste, writing songs that carry weight without losing grace. If you are curious, start with The Burden of Belief and Medusa, then let the rest unspool. By the time Rescue hits, you will know whether the record has found you. If it does, do yourself a favour and grab the Times Of Grace vinyl. Some albums just feel better with a needle lowering into the quiet.