Grenouer
Picked up by Casket Music, Russian 4 piece ‘Grenouer’ unleash their first album outside their home country, soon to be followed with some UK and European tour dates.
To be honest I was initially tentative on receiving this release, with perhaps the narrow-minded opinion that they were just another death metal band. I am pleased to say however that I was surprised, because I actually found myself liking it. First of all full marks for the effort, on inserting this CD into a computer you get an interactive page, which allows you to watch video clips, read lyrics and reviews, download wallpaper and also show off some great artwork. On the music front however it’s definitely death metal, there’s no question about that, but it also has some great melody including subtle elements of thrash and hardcore. It’s fast and then atmospheric, the drumming is unashamedly ferocious and the vocals spit and snarl yet there’s an underlying catchiness to the whole thing. The production is also something to point out because it’s very tight, almost too polished perhaps, especially on electronic track ‘The Message’ and following track ‘Shut My Eyes’. These are both industrial sounding dance tracks, very technical and still heavy sounding with the odd vocal snarl. On hearing these I feel like the band are divided, between this sound and the outright punishing metal on the rest of the album
A highlight track for me would have to be ‘Passage In The Sky’ due to it’s pace and melodic sections and ‘Shut My Eyes’ for it’s electronic style. There is probably something for everyone in this album though, whatever your favourite aspect of metal you’re bound to find it.
Overall this is a very clever and extremely accessible album, I don’t consider myself to be a particularly huge fan of this genre, but I found myself enjoying a lot of ‘Try’, perhaps that’s because it includes so many different elements of music and style, or maybe because it’s not afraid to include the catchy hooks. This might however alienate those who prefer their metal very un-accessible.
Interestingly two tracks on this record have been included on the soundtrack to the computer game ‘Adrenalin 2: Rush Hour’, a big budget racing game set on the streets of Moscow. This seems quite fitting, as this is the exact word that sums up ‘Try’, that’s adrenalin.