Since 2006 GRIM REAPER has been reincarnated as STEVE GRIMMETT'S GRIM REAPER but it wasn't until a decade later that we finally heard some new material and since GRIM REAPER broke up in 1987 that means it's been 29 years that fans have been waiting for something new! They wouldn't want to let down the fans, would they? Well, let's see.

GRIM REAPER was never a band I got around to exploring simply because most the old bands I got into with a new release then went backwards into their earlier work. That being said, even just with this album I can hear where other Power metal bands got their inspiration, the power Steve Grimmett has behind his voice even after all this years is incredible, you can really hear it on "Wings of Angels" and "Rock Will Never Die". The band is also made up by Steve Grimmett's solo band, which includes the incredible guitarist Ian Nash who on nearly every track on this album is showing off his guitar skills in some insane solos. The drumming is as quick as you would expect from one of the godfathers of Power Metal and shockingly the bass is fairly obvious holding down the groove.

The album has a ton of quick songs like the title track "Walking in the Shadows", "From Hell" and "Temptation", but it also knows how to slow down with "Thunder". Slow down is a relative term of course because Nash again decides to show off his skills in the middle of the track which should feel like a solo full of emotion and feeling, but instead just feels like another fast solo for the sake of being fast.

Overall I think this is a good release, it's nothing exactly special, it's definitely not worth 30 years of waiting, but it'll introduce a whole new generation of Metal fans to GRIM REAPER. Needless to say, if you think this is going to be GRIM REAPER at their absolute best, I'm sorry but it's not, but if you're new to GRIM REAPER much like myself, I recommend that you start here and work your way back, their catalogue is well worth looking into if you like this album.

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