I often find myself laughing at today’s metal scenesters; as the saying goes if I didn’t laugh I would cry! Really, the whole scene is a disgrace. Perhaps it is just old age setting in; remember when you were 14 years old and your parents would shake their heads and vociferously state “I really don’t know what you see in that racket!” Their music remains a mystery to all but their own peers, and the rest of us are never supposed to understand - we just know that their music is not as good as ours. But I just don’t get it; what is so great about some berk with his back to the audience screaming “bree bree breeeeee” down the mic, while his skinnier, nerdier bandmate cuts in with “Whine whine whine?”
Which brings me neatly onto Grantig. Now listen up kids; stop flicking your fringe and trying to get your pout just right for your MySpace profile pic; put down your eyeliner for just a second and switch off whatever awful br00talcore nonsense it is that is on your IPod this week and just listen. This, my friends, is what you should be listening to! Music with balls! No fucking self-pitying, whiny cry-to-yo-momma bullshit, no indistinguishable grunts and no stupid kung-fu-fighting-in-the-moshpit breakdowns. Just pure f***ing metal! This is, in my not-so-humble opinion, what college students with fake ID’s should be falling over themselves for on their way up onto the dancefloor instead of Fall Out Boy. It’s modern, it’s cool, and it rocks!
My instant reaction when I hear opening track ‘Medizin’ is to draw a comparison to Machine Head, with its speeding, thrash metal guitars and powered-up drum pounding that is met with some commanding and aggressive Rob Flynn-esque bellows that are executed rather well in the German language. The vocals switch from a taste bluesy kind of affliction to a much more antagonistic bellow, and singing in native tongue seems to add something a bit unique into the mix, especially with them having such an “American” sound this is not something I would expect. There is plenty of melody in the mix and there is so much power and raw energy that it could send sparks flying out of the stereo on tracks such as ’24 Jahre’ and ‘Die Letzte Stadt.’
The scything riffs and aggression are balanced out with some more melodic tracks, such as ‘Dein Paradies’ which has a nice steady mid paced groove that contains a rather languid Southern rock vibe a la Down, while the tasty guitar licks rise and fall with alacrity. Even with the groove laden licks and sluggish melodies of ‘Warum Geht Es Mir So Dreckig’ they put forth an awesome crushing power. Final track ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ eases us out of things rather softly, like a tender goodbye and brings all to an end.
There isn’t a weak track on this album and it is one I could quite happily listen to; I love its energy and its pure aggression, and just to bring things back to where I began; I expect to see these in heavy rotation on Kerrang! TV very soon!
http://www.myspace.com/grantig
http://www.drakkar.de
