Steve Grimmet's Grim Reaper: Walking in the Shadows

There's no easy way to begin writing about Grim Reaper. Here's a band that, for me anyway, was a major part of my listening experience in the 1980s. I still remember taking my Walkman with me to Disneyland and listening to See You In Hell while I waited in line for the rides (much to my parent's chagrin—it was supposed to be time for family). I also learned how to play the opening riff to "See You in Hell," something that I still play when I'm noodling around with my guitar. I also liked the skeletons on the band's album covers and was even a sucker for the skeletons in the music videos. It's easy to say that Grim Reaper was a major part of my early heavy metal education.

I know that things changed in the 90s and that Beavis and Butthead (another favorite of mine) didn't help matters much. Those knuckleheads really did a number on Grim Reaper in ways that made it hard to see the band—and some of heavy metal's earnestness—in the same ways we used to. Now they were the butt of a joke. There were other problems, obviousl , and all too soon the band faded from our attention.

All these years later, Steve Grimmet is back with a new iteration of Grim Reaper. So far as I can tell, this isn't some vanity project but a legitimate attempt to give fans more of a band that once won a battle of the bands and found their way to success right when heavy metal was poised to take over the world. I don't know all the ins and outs of Grimmet's history and the ways the original band members have fared. I'm sure some of the relevant details are online.

There's always some trepidation approaching a new release by a band so rooted to fond memories. As I've listened to this album I found myself taken back to an earlier style of heavy metal, one that seemed so powerful and so heavy to me once upon a time. Extreme music has changed but there's still plenty of power in the older style and this album does a nice job of showing off just what it can do. It would be premature to describe this album as classic or some kind of major comeback but it isn't an embarrassment or unnecessary. Instead, this is a solid new offering from a terrific band. I really liked "From Hell" because Grim Reaper has always given us good hell-related tracks. I also liked "Walking in the Shadows" and a few others. In some ways, this is the best thing Grim Reaper has done in years, but I realize that may not be saying much because there just aren't that many songs to begin with. Still, having recently listened again to See You In Hell, an album that hasn't aged terribly well in my opinion, that this album shows us more of what Grim Reaper could have done had history, circumstances, and events been different. Grim Reaper is now on the road—check them out!

Track Listing:
1. Wings of Angels
2. Walking in the Shadows
3. Reach Out
4. I'm Coming for You
5. From Hell
6. Call Me in the Morning
7. Rock will Never Die
8. Temptation
9. Thunder
10. Now You See Me
11. Blue Murder
12. Come Hell or High Water

Added: September 30th 2016
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 1577
Language: english

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