Metal Heaven
2007
When a singer gets older there are three directions that his or her voice can go. Those directions are that the voice stays about the same, it gets better or it gets worse. In hard rock and metal it seems like the voice either gets worse or stays the same. Many who stay around the same in quality still lose a little range just because it’s a natural part of aging. When Steve Grimmett was in Grim Reaper he had a tendency to sing a little over the top at times. Yet here we are twenty years after the last Grim Reaper album and Mr. Grimmett has never sounded better. He seems more in control than ever and every song on this album compliments his voice or vice versa. He does have a slight raspy sound to his voice that actually just adds to his approach. The music is 80’s style metal for the most part and primarily mid-tempo songs. I found the music to be sharp and very much in your face. Largely it’s even heavier than I was figuring it would be which was a pleasant surprise. There have not been a huge amount of really good pure classic style metal albums this year, but this one can be added to that short list. Grim Reaper fans might be pleased to know that Steve’s new band does a ripping cover of “Wrath of the ripper” on this album. I was hoping that this album would be good, but it’s actually even a little better than I had hoped it would be. The only real problem is that the band currently does not have an American distributor, which means you would have to buy it as an import. Still it’s very much worth tracking down.
http://www.myspace.com/thestevegrimmettbandgrimreaper
You can buy this disc through Impulse Music.com for $15.99. Steve Grimmet at Impulse Music
ReplyDeleteRob Rockitt
HardRockHideout.com
HRH-Thanks, Rob. It's certainly worth.
ReplyDeleteThat's good that people over here can get it reasonably. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with it unless you're expecting a new direction. Admittedly, I tend to shy away from things that stay in the past, but this album is so solid that I really enjoyed it. I like it more than anything from Grim Reaper, because as you say, he keeps his voice under control. With GR, it usually started grating on me after a short time, but not on this album. All of you 80s metal fans will surely like it even more than I did.
ReplyDeleteThis has been one of a better produced album. As commented Steve's voice, well matured and rounded, has certainly stayed with it although I think the original 'wrath of the ripper' sounded better with his then younger pitch.The new stuff is a must listen. Buy it, its red hot rocknroll.
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