Griffen-Linked in eternity

Self-produced
2008

This five song demo from Sweden’s Griffen seems deeply embedded in a mid-late 1980’s melodic metal and hard rock. I heard some early Queensryche, Dio, Rising Force and maybe even a touch of Pretty Maids mixed in different songs. They obviously are very much focused and that comes through in their sound as they are certainly very tight in many aspects of their playing. They manage to be fairly heavy, melodic at times and show a decent amount of technical flair to boot. One of the most important things they are doing though may be that they have a good degree of balance. They are not playing an overpowering style, but they certainly have enough going consistently to be interesting. The vocals are strong and the music flows along fairly well plus they mix up their direction enough on each song. I wish they would have had a few more heavier parts because they handled that well when they used that style, but I think they would have been even better with a slightly heavier edge mixed in a little more. The production is certainly first rate and I think their sound certainly benefits from this. Still I liked every song, they have a great deal to offer and Griffen are cranking out some solid classic style metal.

http://www.myspace.com/griffentheband