GRIMLORD is a Polish band that actually was formed upon the ashes of the Black Metal act VALLACHIA. GRIMLORD's prime release was the demo Robactwo that saw the light of the day back in 2001. Due to the album's artwork and the band's ancestry I was expecting something around the Death Metal territory until I pressed the play button...
...when a keyboard intro made me for some torturing seconds thinking of same-old-Gothic Rock. Fortunately, the guitars took that pain away and welcomed an almost Power Metal sound. The vocals from Barth la Picard can best described as the mean value of Kai Hansen and Adi Deris during their time in HELLOWEEN. The guitars work also to this direction with Heavy Metal distortion and sing-along-melodies. What I found interest in this song was the killer chorus and the well hidden Black Metal layers that show their faces in the fast drums and growling vocals. Some ANNIHILATOR influences of the Waking The Fury days may also appear in the guitars on the fast Oh! My King that continues to carry the Power Metal banner mentioned before. The synths and limited keyboard melodies work in the background giving some diversity in GRIMLORD's sound that overall can be described as confusing. In particular, while listening to Dolce Vita Sath-an As I could not make up my mind the music genre. I do not imply that we must always have a certain musical directions but the occasions where a band can merge more than one genres in a single album are extremely rare. GRIMLORD give the impression that are still searching their sound and do not hesitate to experiment a lot. This trend for self-exploration becomes more pronounced after the first three songs of the album that are the only with vocals. The rest 6 tracks are instrumentals and judging by the dynamic of three album openers sound a little bit weaker. Although the musicianship is high enough to prove that these guys know their way around music creation the rest of the album turns into a movie soundtrack. Actually, Ancient Land Of Ys and Lamentation Sword can boost your imagination and -why not?- musically dress a book that you are reading.
To wrap this review up I think I cannot put a greater rating exclusively based on the three songs that have already spent additional time in CD player. The rest of the album has good music but due to the lack of vocals cannot go on the next level. Let's see what GRIMLORD's future step will be.