Jim Griffin’s new LP, ‘The Counterblast,’ throws down a gauntlet immediately after the mood-setting opener. The real event is ‘Xenocide.’

This track is built around a single, uncompromising idea: a colossal, slow-grinding riff engineered for maximum sonic density and physical impact. It is pure, foundation-level heaviness.

Drummer Keith McCoy stops the whole thing from collapsing, providing complex driving rhythms underneath the weight. The twist comes from Robbie Costelloe. His searing saxophone arrangement acts as an aggressive counter to the riff’s gloom, delivering a frantic, King Crimson-esque voice. The tension between Costelloe’s melodic chaos and the track’s brute force defines the soundscape.

Jim Griffin’s ‘The Counterblast’ is conceptually ambitious, drawing its narrative from a highly specific, eclectic syllabus of influences. The album’s philosophical background is directly inspired by the expansive cosmic visions of scientists and authors such as Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov, complemented by the profound, nuanced emotional lexicon of John Koenig. These voices of intellectual exploration are balanced by the gravitas of religious and political figures, including the sermons of Pastor Charles Lawson and the defining rhetoric of Presidents Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy, alongside the historical authority of King James I.

This dense, interdisciplinary tapestry converges on a single, poignant historical event: the tragedy of January 28th, 1986. ‘The Counterblast’ stands as a solemn monument, officially dedicated to the memory of the brave crew of NASA Mission STS-51-L.