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°  ÛÛ    ÛÛ     Artist: Grinder                                ÛÛ    ÛÛ
   ²   Û°° þÛ       Album: Sirens                                  Ûþ °°Û
   þ    Û²ß Û        Year: 2014                                    Û ß²Û   °
         Û  ²   Rel. Date: 2015-02-06                              ²  Û
        ±   ±       Genre: Thrash Metal                            ±   ±
         ÛÜ °       Label: Metal Race Records                      ° ÜÛ
      °   ÛÜ  °    Source: CD°  ÜÛ
      °      Û²      Type: Reissue                               ²Û        °
      ²       Û   Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo            Û   °     ²
      ²       Û                                                  Û   °     ²
      Ü       þ                                                  þ   ²     þ
            °Û                                                    Û° ß
            Û  For those familiar with the works of Grinder, they  Û
            Û  never were a band capable of much innovation, but   Û
            Û  instead chose to admire their peers through         Û
            Û  imitation, bringing only the uniqueness of a        Û
Û  decidedly American approach to the German thrash    Û
            Û  scene. Mostly imitating the composition style of    Û
            Û  Sacred Reich and "Bay Area" thrash metal with       Û
            Û  their song structures and pacing on this demo, the  Û
            Û  band would later speed up some of the songs here    Û
            Û  for inclusion on their first full-length for No     Û
            Û  Fashion Records, titled "Dawn for the Living".      Û
            Û  While those songs had the speed and bite of German  Û
            Û  contemporaries like Blind Guardian and Angel Dust,  Û
            Û  they surely do not here, and sound more like the    Û
            Û  stunted pacing and playing of bands such as         Û
            Û  late-eighties era Exodus.                           Û
            Û  The production is the one thing worth noting,       Û
            Û  however. As can be expected with most cassette      Û
            Û  demos of this age still surviving, the one this     Û
            Û  review is based on has quite a bit of decay and     Û
            Û  hiss, but through all that is quite a more          Û
            Û  professional sound than one can reasonably expect   Û
            Û  from something home-brewed like self-released       Û
            Û  demo, and if cleaned up and released, could have    Û
            Û  been used as a debut EP of sorts. I shouldn't go    Û
            Û  without mentioning that I'm glad they didn't,       Û
            Û  because the versions of tracks later used on the    Û
            Û  their debut are in weaker form here, so it may      Û
            Û  have given less sympathetic ears the wrong          Û
            Û  impression.                                         Û
            Û  Overall, this tape is more listenable and nicely    Û
            Û  crafted than one might expect from a demo made in   Û
            Û  this time period, but marred by less exciting       Û
            Û  versions of songs by a band that was fairly         Û
            Û  mediocre to begin with, and ever the slightest      Û
            Û  derivative. I suggest starting with the first       Û
            Û  proper release, as at least they had the benefit    Û
Û  of a production by Kalle Trapp (Assassin, Blind     Û
            Û  Guardian, Pestilence, Destruction), and had at      Û
            Û  that point quickened and tightened their sound      Û
            Û  enough to make their material stand tall, if not    Û
            Û  actually compete, with other German acts in their   Û
            Û  respective scene at the time. If anything it shows  Û
            Û  that no amount of polish can make weak songs sound  Û
            Û  good, but at least it can give them enough luster   Û
            Û  for others to see potential in the band that        Û
            Û  created them.                                       Û
            ²                                                      ²
            ±                                                      ±
            °  1.  Intro                                     0:50  °
            °  2.  Traitor                                   4:45  °
            °  3.  Into Battle                               3:30  °
            °  4.  To Dethrone the Beast                     6:46  °
            °  5.  Sirens                                    4:55  °
            °  6.  Dawn for the Living                       5:02  °
            °                                               25:48  °
         °  ±                                                      ±
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