Album Type : Full Length
Date : 22/1/2013
Label : Self Released
Grande, album tracklist:
1) Treating the Symptoms
3:21
2) Facesplit 4:01
3) Lizard Kill 3:03
4) Souldier3:37
5) Betrayal 3:05
6) Headless 2:44
7) Last Time 4:56
8) Nothing to Hide 4:33
9) The Gift 3:57
10) The Mission 4:25
11) Something I Can Never
See 8:53
Bio :
Thunderous trio GRANDE was originally formed back in the fall of
2008 by guitarist Kaveryd, bassgrinder Dingvall and previous drummer Wiberg. In
May of 2009 the band released their first promo and later that summer a number
of stages in and around the Stockholm area got smashed and bashed by the groovy
riffing that is the trademark of GRANDE.
The current setting of GRANDE was completed at the turn of the
decade by new drummer Wikforss and soon after this the gruesome threesome
really started to make a name for themselves with live gigs including
appearences with Swedish greats such as Mustasch, The Kristet Utseende, Mass
Murder Agenda and Sideburn.
By late December 2011 the band started recording their debut album
at Sunlight Studio with producer Tomas Skogsberg, known for his work with
Entombed, The Hellacopters and Refused to name a few. Finally mastered by Peter
In de Betou (Meshuggah, Opeth, etc), the album is ready to be released upon the
waiting masses
The gruesome threesome:
Dingvall - Bass & Beer
Kaveryd - Guitar & Voc
Wikforss - Drums & Hair
Dingvall - Bass & Beer
Kaveryd - Guitar & Voc
Wikforss - Drums & Hair
Review:
Grande chip and chunk riffs away like they’re digging shallow graves
for listeners. Squeal-y guitars eat from
the trough of southern metal.
Ultra-aggro lyrics and beautiful violence grace the imagery the band
puts in the listener’s mind. Judicious
use of double kick leading into half speed groove makes a headbanging recipe of
‘hospital visit’ proportions. But this
isn’t heaviness for heaviness’ sake.
Melody rears its permed and perfumed head early and often throughout
this disc.
Reviewers love it when bands get really proggy and explore multiple
soundscapes and song structures because it gives us something to blab on about,
but we secretly love it when bands come along and blow all that stuff out of
the water with some head down powerhouse rock and roll that smashes through
brick walls of pretentiousness. Look at
that, I just described the band! And
here I thought I needed the band to stick out like a sore thumb.
No, the truth is this isn’t anything you haven’t heard before, this
is southern / stoner metal. But it is of
a very high order indeed. The influences
are as obvious and apparent as they are essential: Down, Corrosion of
Conformity, Black Sabbath, Black Label Society, Pantera … you get the
picture. Stop me if I’m simply listing
your music library. I know all of those
bands play a big part of mine. Despite
the lack of true originality, ‘Grande’ is a killer listen. If nothing else, the band is playing a brand
of stoner / southern metal no longer heard in the current incarnations of those
all-time greats. That alone makes Grande
relevant. The grooves are familiar but
all the more effective for it. And at
the end of the day, if all we wanted was something different all the time, we’d
all be listening to windy and pointless single note compositions with titles
like, “A single plum, floating in perfume, served in a man’s hat”, wouldn’t we?
What we get with Grande however is a smorgasbord of riffs, fist in
the face heaviness and quite a number of notes all strung together and played
really fast. Sound good? If you’re looking for a place to start,
opening track “Treating the Symptoms” just smashes noses with its Pantera power
groove. It gets the blood pumping
straight off and the heart rate never drops far down after that.
“Souldier” is another
standout track. Man is it ever, C.o.C.
menace pervades the verse while an Alice in Chains screaming harmony conquers
listeners on the chorus. “Nothing To
Hide” follows much the same pattern, but adds an acoustic interlude as a middle
8. Okay, so the band has some tricks up their sleeves, alright? The point is this: turn your brain off and
rock out to this record!
In the final analysis, Grande drags the same waters as newer bands
like Desert Storm and VolumeFeeder. If
you dig on those sounds, and those of the legendary bands listed above, I don’t
see any reason on Earth why not to check this band out. And if you do, I guarantee you will band your
head and throw the horns.
Words
by : Lucas Klaukien
As ever, show your
support to the band by checking them out at the various links and buying their
merch. This record is available digitally via Itunes. Thanks to Henrik Kaveryd for
hooking us up with the record for review.
