Kyrbgrinder-Defiance

Mausoleum
2007


This an outlet for Threshold drummer Johanne James to take charge and show his vocal abilities as well. The band is a trio yet the James is the only member of the recording line-up who is in the touring line-up even though both sets of members are listed in the credits of the booklet. It's a somewhat varied album with a sound vaguely similar to Kings X and there are also some definite 1990's rock influences mixed in. They manage to cross some musical genres fairly easily at times. Kyrbgrinder come across with some material on occasion that's almost up to a Prong-like heaviness and then they turn around and slide in some smooth rock like vocal melodies. One of the biggest strengths of this band is the smoothness with which they handle pace changes. With the drummer in charge and doing the vocals, you can figure that the drums are going to be rather prominent in the music and that's a large part of the approach. Yet they add to the overall sound rather than detract and I think the strong drums actually help make the music a little more unique overall. The sound is a bit basic at times and I was hoping for a little more variation here and there. Yet the huge production helps keep the sound large and in your face even when the material is just decent. This is definitely a grower though because it took me a little to time to warm up to it, but I did. They need to push a little harder with the writing perhaps, but still a fairly promising effort.



http://www.myspace.com/kyrbgrinder