My ears were begging my brain to make it stop.
Russian death metal band Grenouer, made up of vocalist Ind, guitarist Motor, bassist Slavij and drummer Sergey, are hitting the UK with a double re-release of ‘The Odour O’ Folly’ and ‘Gravehead’, both initially released in Russia in 1999 and 2001 respectively. Describing themselves as a metal band that play a mix of doom, melodic and groovy, polyrhythmic and catchy, rock and hardcore, this is the first time the albums have been available outside of Russia.
Grenouer boast that they are one of the few Russian metal bands to get recognition outside of their native country, however if this is the best Russia has to offer, that’s a blessing on the rest of the world!
I have no idea what language the lyrics are in, but can only assume that they are written in English due to the song titles. 'Death Ought To Wait For Me' is my personal favourite...
From start to finish, the music is muffled and the resulting noise headache-inducing. I had only endured a couple of tracks before my ears were begging my brain to make the torture stop. Whoever said music reviewing was a glamorous job!?
I was on the point of admitting defeat when I recognised a familiar (though highly distorted) melody. No, it couldn’t be.... yes it was... it was a death metal version of one of my favourite songs, ‘Take On Me’ by none other than pop legends A-Ha. Although far removed from the original, it wasn’t quite as horrible as the other tracks on the CD.
I really am struggling to say anything good about Grenouer. Ind’s vocal contribution sounds more like a child throwing a tantrum than a professional metal performer and due to the terrible sound quality, the instrumental melodies are indistinguishable. Where the sound quality does improve, the instrumentalists are quite impressive, particularly the piano track on the latter half of the CD.
All in all, a very disappointing offering from Russia’s champion metal band. Although I felt plenty of the doom, I must have missed the “melodic and groovy, polyrhythmic and catchy, rock and hardcore” label they use to sell themselves. For a band that has been around for over a decade, this is very poor. With some decent sound management, the songs could potentially be improved but I don’t think they’ll ever be any competition for the giants of metal.
Stick to the vodka, chaps!
To find out more about Grenouer, this double re-release and the band’s latest albums, ‘Try’ and ‘Lifelong Days’, check out their websites: www.myspace.com/grenouer and www.grenouer.com.