Fear No Evil

It's always a bummer when a legendary heavy metal icon passes away. Most recently, alongside Budgie's Burke Shelley and Trouble's Eric Wagner, the next titan to fall was Grim Reaper's madcap wailer, the one and only Steve Grimmett. His diabolically mesmerizing performance on 1984 hit single "See You In Hell" continues to resonate immensely, whilst it's worthwhile to take a post mortem peek at his less celebrated participation, 1985's jocosely denigrated Fear No Evil, released on time warp cassette under RCA, back when I first recall being chastised for speaking my mother tongue at recess, over in Poutineland.

Granted, the production is muddy and sounds as outdated as the printed press (or public physical book/newspaper reading), but you can't deny certain tracks' inherent charm, which ranges from debilitating cow bell rife chorus on "Fear No Evil" proper (along with wheezy, squealing leads), a wizardly and all-out evil intro solo whirl/cymbal tapped (s)cruncher of a killer riff on "Never Coming Back", or yet further catchy highlight in "Matter Of Time". Actually, the latter was something of an obsession for me, as, upon hearing, couldn't help figure that each of our deaths, including saintly Mister Grimmett's, is just that: a matter of time. Combine this with hard-driving and raw, ever-so-eighties vibes, for which I'm a sucker, and there you go.

A fair portion of the material is entirely forgettable, such as the cheesy and lame 38 Special evoking piece of radiofied claptrap "Rock And Roll Tonight". As for second side, Nick Bowcott's hallucinatory guitar solos shine amidst watered down, lackluster filler fare - in particular, the horrendously whack father-and-son bedtime interplay which defines closer "Final Scream", an otherwise inoffensive mid-paced rocker.

In a sane world, Grim Reap's Fear No Evil wouldn't exist, instead subsisting solely as brief EP comprised of said deadly cuts, sandwiched between See You In Hell LP and 1987's even more solid and textured Rock You To Hell (and back, please).

It's also worth noting Steve never benefitted from so-called rock star celebrity status, with all its accompanying largesse of money and fame. Having received the short end of the scythe, I believe it's our duty to revere the man as a true blazer of trails, next to big names such as Dio, Halford and Dirkschneider. Rest peacefully, ye prince of the loud larynx!

Roughly 36 years ago, I bought “Fear No Evil”. It's also been that long since I last heard the record. It was a massive disappointment and for a very long time I was convinced I had bought the worst album ever. But the wheel of time keeps turning and a few releases told me that I have to revise my judgment. So in the last days, I did it (with an uneasy feeling): I listened to “Fear No Evil” again. Honestly speaking, it’s still no nice experience.

I do not know the exact wording anymore, but the work was advertised as mega-heavy and fast. I was the naive idiot who believed this lie. Instead, the album was and of course still is completely harmless and less heavy than the first two albums of Germany’s Steeler. Somehow the songs make me think of Warlock – and this is not the best association. But the vocals of Steve Grimmett are very melodic, they almost have a female touch. Thus I cannot change it; I always think of Doro whenever he sings his meaningless lyrics (“we’re playing rock and roll tonight”). Maybe he was a good singer in objective terms, but his high-pitched screams are terrible and his “normal” voice would have helped him in the rock, but not in the metal business (from my point ov view).

The riffs are nothing but a big pile of rubbish. They lack character and power and they are as aggressive as a shy deer in the twilight. The mid-paced songs flow smoothly through the border area between hard rock and traditional metal without offering just one surprising break. Even worse, they are free from any dynamic element. Everything is predictable, not only due to the conservative patterns, but also in view of the limited songwriting skills. There is no chorus that keeps sticking in the ear, no solo that takes the listener by storm and not a single riff that stands out. Aggravating the situation, the defensive production sounds a bit muddy and the bass guitar – of course – plays no role at all. Everything is tailored to Steve’s voice, and this is where the circle of pain closes.

Okay, I have no doubts that the band tried to give its best – it’s no f**k off anti-album like “Goatlord” or “Octagon” and it’s not as embarrassing as “Turbo” (if we ignore the totally terrible intro of the closer, which is worse and more ridiculous than the least terrifying King Diamond story). The songs are useless, but they have a certain form and direction. However, “Fear No Evil” spreads absolutely no metal vibes in view of its polished overall impression and its complete lack of rebellious spirit. Don’t expect more than the terrible, stereotyped and badly painted artwork promises. I will not listen to this ghastly work again in the next 36 years. And don’t dare to play it on my ninetieth birthday!

Two years after the frankly mediocre yet somehow classic See You in Hell debut, Grimmett and company released their sophomore, Fear No Evil. Unsurprisingly, the formula didn't change much from their first record, but I have to admit that the results are marginally more cohesive and enjoyable on this one, though still remains just as good as your average NWOBHM album. So you know what to expect; Steve's fairly powerful but extremely generic 80s metal singing with the occasional falsetto burst that borders on the ridicule, familiar-sounding and basic riffing, loads of tapping soloing (virtually found in each and every song here), standard drumming and unspectacular bass performances. And yeah, that bold cover artwork, with the Reaper himself bursting through a church's window, about to run over some unfortunate Christians… or perhaps just some empty benches. A stained glass king! (pun intended).

If you've listened to See You in Hell there's just not much to add about Grimmett's passionate but tiresome tone. I actually enjoyed more seeing him live a couple of years ago with a reassembled cast of Grim Reaper, now that his voice is no longer what it used to be and he can no longer produce those ill-used, glass-shattering falsettos, than listening to him on Grim Reaper's old studio records. His pronunciation remains way exaggerated, and aside from a few songs here in which he manages to restrain himself, there’s not much I love about his voice. The guitar work also remains quite unimpressive throughout the entire LP, marginally better this time, but consistently bland. And the solos! …sweet Randy, forgive him! Seriously, if you are not into guitar tapping solos, this is one NWOBHM band you'll want to avoid, trust me. It seams like Nick Bowcott was really into Eddie Van Halen, though lacked much of his ability. The intro to “Never Coming Back” sounds cool, but… tapping in each goddamn solo? Really!?

One of the better aspects I found on their sophomore album is the drumming, as Lee Harris was replaced by the much more capable Mark Simon, who while not being even a Nicko McBrain at 25% capacity, manages to keep things more interesting with his clockwork beats and enjoyable fills. Even though the production has come up with a mix which clearly highlight's the vocals, Simon's work can be appreciated and is a decent rhythmic backbone, even though there's not much of quality to be attached to it. But even his performance is no exception to criticism on my behalf. One can notice his sloppy attempt at a fast double bass in “Lord of Darkness” right after the (yeah, your guessed correctly!) tapping guitar solo, which is one of the worse tunes on the LP, only surpassed by “Final Scream” and its pathetic horror flick-like narration, which appears to be a humorous attempt… though I'm not sure. But not all is entirely bad. The best compositions to me are “Fight for the Last” with its feisty drive and Grimmett at his most controlled, as well as “Matter of Time”, my favorite of the bunch, featuring powerful melodies right from the start and a memorable chorus and bridge, thus rivaling their song “See You in Hell” as their catchiest ever.

As much as I respect and admire Steve Grimmett as a veteran true metal musician, I'm afraid his back catalogue has little value to me, and I really find it tough to recommend it to friends or fellow metal enthusiasts, besides satisfying some of the curiosity it may stir in them or to appease a quirky desire to experience some 80s prime cheese. Aside from that, Fear No Evil is far from anything special, and this remains true to this very day. In fact, it faced fierce competition back in '85 when it came out, as that year saw the release of way more impressive and influential stuff like Slayer's immortal Hell Awaits, serious badass speed metal in the form of ADX, Agent Steel and Megadeth's debuts and even the birth of prog and death metal themselves with Watchtower's Energetic Dissasembly and Possessed's unholy Seven Churches, respectively, and just to name a few.

Name a NWOBHM band that isn't Iron Maiden, Saxon, or Raven, chances are, the first thing that may or may not come off the top of your head is Grim Reaper. They're a band known for being masters of songs dealing more with horror than anything else, and because of it, they helped make themselves stand out from the typical NWOBHM bands that just simply wrote of love, partying and rocking. After they released the all-time classic album "See You in Hell", they came out with another effort, "Fear No Evil". Before I listened to the album, I had some high expectations for it, cos, come on, who wouldn't when they hear about an album that a lot of headbangers like? When I did listen to it, though, I was a little underwhelmed. It just isn't as good as I had hoped cos there are some problems with it. Some songs I did enjoy, but other than that, it just falls short of any expectations.

The biggest reason for me being underwhelmed by the album was because of the fact that on here, Grim Reaper seems to be a one-trick pony. The riffs for much of them feature the same chord patterns with the very same power chords as not only the title track of "Fear No Evil" but also the title track of "See You in Hell" as well. What's more is that most of them (with the exception "Lord of Darkness", which has a slower tempo than the rest), have the same time signature as the title tracks of both albums. You would think that you were listening to the exact same song every time, and that guitarist Nick Bowcott was restricted only to creating riffs that had the same power chord. However, he does make some very impressive solos. Granted they do usually appear after the chorus of the second verse in every song on the album, but other than that, they do actually kill. There is also the fact that, just like the title track of "See You in Hell", Steve Grimmett seems to scream higher after the guitar solo than he does for the rest of the song. One example of when he does this is towards the end of "Lord of Darkness". It seems that he wants every song to go out stronger than they begin. In that case, why can't they just jump the music up a key?

Another part of Grim Reaper's "one-trick pony" element is the structures of all the songs. They basically go with two verses, each with a chorus, a guitar solo and sometimes a third verse with a chorus and an outro. I know that many good songs follow this structure, but since the songs on "Fear No Evil" have the same power chords and time signatures, the monotony couldn't be any more obvious. Also, Grimmett tends to sing the song's title before he begins the first verse. A few examples being "Matter of Time" with "IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIIIIIIIIIIME!!!" and "Let the Thunder Roar" with "Thunder Roar Thunder ROOOOAAAARRR!!!" That element kind of sounds familiar......Oh, YES! We've heard it before in "See You in Hell"! Nearly every song on "Fear No Evil", including the title track, seems to be a recycled and rehashed version of "See You in Hell"! What is holding Grim Reaper back from their creative side?

Along with the monotony of this album, there are also some cliches that make me think that Grim Reaper weren't really taking themselves seriously when they made it. "Rock and Roll Tonight" has to be one of the most cliched songs I've ever heard. Let's face it, the theme of "ROCK N ROLL!!" has been done to death for decades. Try as you might in writing a song about rocking, you just can't really think of anything original. "Rock and Roll Tonight" is cliched right down to the lyrics which go by "We're playing Rock and Roll Tonight, playing loud and playing hot, playing all night and we'll never stop". Now tell me, how many times have you heard those kinds of lyrics in any song dealing with rocking? Quite a few times? More than that? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that you've heard those lyrics before...hundreds of times before. The silliness of the album doesn't just end here. There is also "Final Scream", which if it wasn't for the silly dialogue between the kid and his dad in the beginning of the song, would have been pretty cool. Since the "Kid" is actually a guy imitating a kid's voice, I'm pretty sure that Grim Reaper did that one as a joke, so I'll give that one a free pass. Even the cover of the album itself seems to be incredibly goofy with the Grim Reaper himself bursting through a stained-glass window with a motorcycle. I'm pretty sure the band Breaker did an album cover similar to that, but the album cover to "Fear No Evil" looks so cheesy, it gets even more cheesy every time I look at it!

Like I said, my expectations of "Fear No Evil" were very high, but what do I get? I get an album that's more sub-par than usual, and I wasted ten bucks on an album that doesn't live up to my standards. Sure the title track and "Matter of Time" are enjoyable, but for the most part, the album really isn't that great. I'm certain that it's the low point of Grim Reaper's career, cos almost every song on here sounds the same in terms of the music, and song structures. All in all, while it is kind of a rarity, it's an underwhelming rarity, and if you do enjoy it and find it worth searching for, that's terrific. Me? I say it's not the best album ever released.

The cover of Grim Reaper's sophomore album has ever struck me with a number of questions, not the least of which is: what the fuck are we paying you for, Death? Not to break stained glass windows with your motorcycle, that's for sure. I suppose what the Harvester of Souls wishes to do on his lunch break is of no real import to the quality of the music contained within, but I always thought this image was laughable. Breaking a window. Oh yeah, what a bad ass. A fucking four year old can break a window. You're the angel of death. I know you're excited that Steve Grimmett and Nick Bowcott decided to upgrade you with some new wheels and have the old horse put down, but vandalism? That's pretty low, dude.

Otherwise, Fear No Evil is pretty much anything you liked about See You In Hell, only sounding a whole lot slicker and more appropriate. The raw volume of the guitars has been dialed back to really fit the drums, and they were approaching a level of quality fit to the hard rock and 'eavy metal bands like Def Leppard and Iron Maiden that were the more smashing successes of this particular scene. More importantly, Grimmett had improved as a vocalist between 1983 and 1985, with a more delicate restraint to his vocals overall, but still not afraid to shout his damned lungs out where it feels more appropriate, and some better proportioned screams. The simpler chord progressions remained, tempered with a fraction of chugging heaviness ("Fear No Evil") and Bowcott's knack for screaming, classy little melodies like the tapping intro to "Never Coming Back", lead in the bridge of "Lord of Darkness (Your Living Hell)" or the gleaming neo-power metal that inaugurates "Lay It On the Line".

The riffs were still very much in line with what was hip and hot in its day. For instance, "Matter of Time" is similar to something like "Breaking the Law", and a lot of other note progressions are similar to the "Neon Knights" style Black Sabbath, Judas Priest circa 1980-1984 or even a dash of Holy Diver or Accept's Metal Heart. Well enough written, but nothing exemplary or all that unique. In fact, I feel like Grim Reaper were relying pretty heavily on the personality of Grimmett to carry the band. The rhythm section here sort of follows alongside the guitar, the bass sounding a little less noticeable than even the debut, but never standing out despite the better production values. Wherever Bowcott flexes a little creativity and rises to the fore, the music becomes admittedly more interesting, but even though songs like "Fear No Evil", "Lay It On the Line" and the ripping "Fight for the Last" are among their best, this is still not top shelf material during that whole NWOBHM period which was being subsumed by the faster, more aggressive genres like speed and thrash that were taking over in the mid 80s.

No outright terrible tracks, but certainly "Rock and Roll Tonite" feels a little limp with the lame chorus cycle. I'm also not that fond of the closer "Final Scream", since the vocals seem a lot less memorable or inspired than the rest of the album. The other seven, however, are about as tight as Grim Reaper would ever sound, and ultimately I think Fear No Evil edges out its followup Rock You to Hell in terms of its sum strengths. This was good enough to get the band onto a bigger label (RCA), but not enough to place them among the ranks of their more recognizable countrymen. It's also decidedly less 'cheesy' than the other albums, beyond the cover art, since nothing here seems quite so awkward as "Suck It and See" or "The Show Must Go On". Just some solid, relatively consistent heavy metal and still fun to break out once in a while.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Although dying significantly in its British homeland, heavy metal was big business in America in 1985, and Droitwich-based Grim Reaper make no effort to hide the very obvious orientation towards the American pop market, emulating hard rockers Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister alongside now-classic metal staples Iron Maiden and, particularly, Judas Priest. Unlike the unfortunate Saxon, whose later works were desperately tailored towards a US breakthrough that never came, Grim Reaper was pretty much a flash in the pan success with fortunate corporate backing whose greatest legacy is a really cool band name, a couple of amusing and memorable music videos as seen on ‘Beavis and Butt-head,’ and some pretty cool but wholly derivative albums from the so-called New Wave of British Heavy Metal.

Twenty years after its demise, possibly in response to the revived interest in classic metal over the last few years, vocalist Steve Grimmett has reformed a touring line-up of the band, consisting of entirely different musicians apart from himself, in what is arguably a very pointless and worthless endeavour to relive mediocre glories. There really isn’t very much point to the continued existence of this sophomore album this long after its period of usefulness, apart from satisfying the unquenchable lust of NWOBHM fans stuck in a 1980s time warp. So, onto the review...

This album is in all ways an improvement over its predecessor, ‘See You in Hell.’ The style is much the same, emulating Judas Priest riffs with Dio-esque vocals aimed close to the pitch range of dogs and bats, but this time features an increasingly harder and darker edge as the album moves towards its conclusion. The studio production is better, but still noticeably weak in comparison to the major bands of the time, the guitars and drums never sounding quite hard-hitting enough and the whole band sounding somewhat separate and disjointed, something that a louder cacophony effect would have remedied. The slightly tinny sound isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and in fact dates this album in quite an enjoyable way, the same way depressing black metal never sounds quite right or convincing enough unless performed on cheap equipment in the guitarist’s parent’s cellar. Nevertheless, the effect the band are going for with the fast chugging guitars doesn’t live up to expectations, and some songs raise the question of whether Grim Reaper really chose the right angle of NWOBHM for their dingy songs; although this catchy and happy sound would sell more albums to the Americans, the album’s more successful darker moments make me wonder whether a dirtier sound in the style of Motörhead and Venom would have made them more memorable and noteworthy in the annals of heavy metal.

The song structures are all very ordinary and very by-the-numbers, based on one or more repeating guitar riffs that calm down a little in the verses so that the vocals can be heard, followed by high wailing choruses that repeat just a little too often as the song nears its conclusion. Nick Bowcott’s guitar solos are improved over the first album for the most part, standing out about half the time, and the rest of the time merely filling in the spaces between chorus repeats. There’s really not a lot here that anyone who owns a Judas Priest album won’t have heard before, from bleak first-person tales of carnage to embarrassingly upbeat and macho songs about partying and rocking hard. A characteristic quirk of this album is for Steve Grimmett to wail the title of the song over the top of the opening riff before the verse begins, almost as if it’s a live show and he’s forgotten that albums come with a tracklist. To defy all criticism, including my own, that this is just another mindless and soulless collection of average NWOBHM pieces with nothing to gain from repeated listens, I’m going to suggest that the ominous thunder effects that open the sixth track usher in a new darker and heavier style for the remainder of the album that culminates in the cheesy heavy metal horror film excellence of the final song.

Like ‘See You in Hell’ before it, the album wastes no time in offering up the most memorable and catchy song in the form of the title track. Just browsing the tracklist with the album fresh in my memory instantly brings Grimmett’s distinctive screams into my mind’s ear, and the chorus of ‘Fear No Evil,’ reaching all those ridiculous high notes over a staccato guitar riff and inexplicable clunks of cowbell, is one of the highlights of the whole album, so much so that I don’t even care that it repeats far too many times over its four allotted minutes after first coming in only forty seconds into the album. The lead riff is impressive and suitably powerful in driving things along, and if the song has any flaws it’s that it still sounds a little amateurish due to the inferior production quality. ‘Never Coming Back’ is, dare I say it, a little more mature in its approach, a standard rock song about independence that alternates between fast riffs and a slower, more reflective pace for the chorus, but the whole thing sounds just a little too identical to Judas Priest of the era for me to give it that much credit, as do the next few songs that follow.

‘Lord of Darkness,’ despite the promising title, is one of the weaker songs on the album, though only in comparison to the much better majority and not for the reasons that I dislike track five intensely. Grimmett’s vocals have been the very obvious driving force of the music throughout the album so far, freestyling their way around the second song regardless of the structure, and here he experiments with a laughably unconvincing robotic-style voice that tries to sound intimidating but fails miserably. The guitar riffs are a little reminiscent of Manowar here, which is probably more a coincidence than direct influence, and the highlight is unquestionably the dual guitar solo, the scaling style of which is used in several other tracks. ‘Matter of Time’ is a little longer than the norm at this point, and thankfully makes full use of its duration in setting up quite a few sections, my favourite of which is a modestly under-used drum and ‘whoa-oah-oah’ part. The guitar riff is the most impressive and memorable so far, and Grimmett’s wails finally settle into a cooperative balance with the rhythms for the first time, making this the finest song so far and a good example of what Grim Reaper could accomplish when putting in the effort.

The fifth track is by far the weakest and most disappointing of the album, a hard rock Twisted Sister style piece about rock and roll that seems to plague many otherwise promising metal albums of the era in various forms (all of which can be identified by the inclusion of ‘Rock and Roll’ in the title). The instrumentation is unimaginative, taking second place to creating a danceable rhythm that no one will ever have danced to in the first place, and the less said about the horrible unison shouting of ‘What do we want?’ / ‘Red hot rock and roll!’, the better. I’ve already said far too much. Moving swiftly on, ‘Let the Thunder Roar’ returns to the high standard of the fourth song, striking the balance between vocals and guitars but ultimately sounding a little too similar to be really striking. The thunder sound effect is entirely expected (like that’s never been done before in a song with ‘Thunder’ in the title), but it’s interesting to hear Lee Harris’ prominent drums in the second half, beating over the top of the guitars in what I like to think is an attempt to emulate the sound of thunder. Regardless, as I suggested earlier, the remainder of the album takes on a darker shade ultimately more fitting to the band’s sinister name, leaving behind the terrible mistake of ‘Rock and Roll Tonight’ and hinting at greater things to come.

Both ‘Lay it on the Line’ and ‘Fight for the Last’ favour lyric narrative over instrumentation, as Grimmett takes on first-person personas as he has done for most of the songs so far, but this gives the band a chance to demonstrate its excellent abilities as a rhythm section... with the exception of the bass, which is hardly ever audible and is never doing anything interesting when it is. Bowcott is granted some excellent guitar solos however, and ‘Fight for the Last’ particularly stands out as one of the highlights of the album, setting the scene of a swords and shields battle both before and after in the same way every other metal band has done, but still making it effective and commendably visual.

The final song is the best of the lot, although the ridiculous spoken word introduction is sure to have divided opinion: the robot-style voice effect is back, as an angry father criticises his child Michael for wanting to stay up a little later before bed. When Michael insists that he’s 26 years old (the lazy stand-up comedian pull-back-and-reveal gag), his father reveals to the listener that Michael has some kind of weird affliction that makes him ‘not like other boys – you’re a goddamn child in your mind’ he yells at him. Michael is sent to bed unhappy, and the band laughs maniacally over the opening riffs. It’s absolutely stupid, but dumb enough to be permissable, considering it’s obviously trying to be a joke rather than anything seriously spooky, in which case it would be unforgivable (Michael’s father responding to the 26 years old gag by saying ‘physically yes, Michael’ really can’t be anything else). The main riff is cool and distinctive, and the chorus is the best since ‘Fear No Evil,’ however silly the horror film lyrics. There’s even an excellent horror film theme inspired guitar solo, proving that the band is most in its element when dealing with kitsch horror more than the less successful themes elsewhere, though they were admittedly adept at the battle stuff in the previous two tracks.

Had Grim Reaper pursued a more thematic horror-style direction, as proved successful for the Misfits and, more importantly in this case, the excellent King Diamond, songs like ‘Fear No Evil’ and ‘Silent Scream’ would be accompanied here by similarly comical but fantastic heavy metal, rather than the mixed bag of second rate Judas Priest and egotistical vocal performances that the first half of the album tends towards. As a British band playing a style of music copied directly from others in a highly competitive market, Grim Reaper’s success was always going to be limited, but they still set their sights on conquering America and becoming millionaires, ultimately failing embarrassingly in both regards. It’s a shame they didn’t realise their inevitable failure earlier and decide to concentrate more on crafting a niche market for themselves, as Steve Grimmett’s vocals certainly sound unique and powerful, while Nick Bowcott’s guitar work improved steadily with each release. I’ve heard that the third and final Grim Reaper album that followed this was the best of the lot, so I look forward to hearing it some day and seeing whether the band decided to take the advice I’ve given them, admittedly twenty years too late to make a difference.

‘Fear No Evil’ is far from being an essential heavy metal purchase, but it has enough to offer to old-school fans of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Saxon and Angel Witch even if it doesn’t really manage to live up their standards.

Grim Reaper’s 2nd installment of their simplistic yet unique brand of NWOBHM sees the band maturing a bit in terms of songwriting. The various tracks on here so a bit more polish in the riff department, the solos are twice as memorable as they were on “See You in Hell”, and the production job on here is quite a large step up. This is mostly present in the drums, which have much more crisp and clear timbre and complement the guitar driven sections. The bass is a tiny bit more audible, although the bass lines resemble the Ian Hill approach of providing a non-technical bottom end rather than compete with the guitars as Manowar’s bass lines tend to.

The songs on here are quite excellent, although the lyrical content in the chorus is still a little bit too repetitive. The title track is probably the most instantly recognizable, containing an intro riff that is similar to the one found on the title track of the debut, although the chorus and the general song structure is a good deal more complex. Like its predecessor, this one featured a music video that was the subject of ridicule by the boneheaded Groove Metal champions Beavis and Butthead (whom reflect the nature of the people they were parodying only too well). Other solid tracks include the spooky sounding tapping intro followed by more riffage monster “Never Coming Back”, the more classic rock oriented “Rock and Roll Tonight” (the intro riff is quite similar to Maiden’s “2 Minutes to Midnight”, and the humorous yet solid heavy track “Final Scream”.

If you liked the debut album “See You in Hell”, this is essentially a more tight and together version with the same winning formula. Nick Bowcott is still soloing with the best of them, Steve Grimmett’s vocals are still in the upper stratosphere, and the same NWOBHM spirit is alive and well. However, the real goods are to be found on the band’s strongest album “Rock you to Hell”.

Recorded in just nine days, and following up a debut which charted at 73 in America (selling a quater million copies) this was a valiant effort, but didnt come close to replicating prior sales. Grim Reaper had the built in fanbase, but with this record they just didnt seem to solidify it, not to mention get it to grow. I dont even really think the music on here is the reason for this wholly. Rather in the time between their debut in 1983, and this being released in May of 1985 so much had happened around them in America, and in the UK that their particular brand of Heavy Metal was being over shadowed by the emerging scenes of the time, and an inability to keep up with a Pop market that was exploding (seriously, I've checked the charts, and its disgusting... just look and see who was billboards No.1 selling artist in May of 1985). Now even if it wasnt wholly based on their sound you gotta keep in mind that Grim Reaper were less than totally unique, and sorta played an awesome, yet slightly predictable brand of NWOBHM that to most of their fans was a less than scarce commodity back when it was true to say, "everybody knows L.A.'s the Heavy Metal capital of the world" (or said a cool guy back in '86) so you can imagine the Heavy Metal scene had some strong competition, within and outside of their scene as far as sales are concerned. But I digress, and as for the music:

You burst straight into classic Grim Reaper, post NWOBHM, with a better production than their previous effort, and showing an aggressive blend of melodic rock elements, Heavy Metal rythms, and a harder Metal edge. The aspects which really always made this band were Steve Grimmett's vocal abilities, and Nick Bowcott's song writing abilities. Even if the basic rythms werent overly technical, or perhaps never ground breaking every song still gains a somewhat independent feel, either due to stand out vocals, or from great leads, licks, and solos. The songs vary a bit, but keep to either an average Heavy Metal (Lord Of Darkness) sound, or a raging Hard Rock (Rock & Roll Tonight) feel with obvious Metal overtones.

The sheer catchyness Grim Reaper were able to create is fairly unique to them, and surely has to do with their ultra accessible delivery, and feel. Probably a reason some may dislike it, as it reminds me alot of Raven (UK) in these facets as they were also trying to gain popular acceptance in America the same way (appealing musically to a market that loved catchy Heavy Metal music). Both rode out the coat tails of early success thanks to the NWOBHM movement (there were lots of NWOBHM bands in the similar situation, with the major ones being Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest), but never able to fully garner massive sales (unlike Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest, who were about the only ones to cash in so much on their popularity).

Regardless of all else, in the end what we have here is a classic Metal album from a fairly consistant band, whose talent, and musicianship skills are apparent. A solid 80's analogue production, an onslaught of endless catchy riffs, awesome guitar harmonies, solos, and leads. This is really an over looked album by alot of people, and I'd say deserves more appreciation at least for what it is, cause for what it is I think it rules.

Grim Reaper were one of the later bands in the NWOBHM scene, sounding a bit more like American power/trad metal. Think like a combination between Iron Maiden, Dio, and a pinch of early Queensryche. An incredibly underrated band, almost completely forgotten by all. Steve Grimmet is easily one of my favorite vocalists, he has the classic 80's metal gruff voice, with alot of power and a very impressive range. The production on this album isn't anything to write home about, but it's not too bad, about what you would expect from 1985.

The album starts with the title track, which is just fucking classic. Great riffs, leads, and some very powerful vocals. "Come and take my hand...And on my commaaaannnnd! You will fear no evillll yeahh!" 80's metal at it's finest, and worth the price of the album alone.

"Never Coming Back" has a really nice flow, reminscent of early Maiden. "Lord of Darkness" is like the previous track, a really nice groovy, half thrash riff. Check out that Halford-esque scream at about 1:06, that's sure to shatter windows. "Matter of Time" is more of the same formula, and trust me IT WORKS. "Rock & Roll Tonight" has a very cheesey intro, and some cheesey lyrics, it's not a bad song but it's better left to bands like Quiet Riot.

"Let the Thunder Roar" is what I want to hear from Grim Reaper. A fast paced rocker, with a great chorus. "Lay it on the Line" is next, and no it's not a Triumph cover. Is an excellent mid paced song, with great crunchy riffs and some great vocals. "Fight For the Last" sounds like a Defenders of the Faith-era Priest song, Steve sounds great here, and the lyrics in this song are actually pretty cool "As the soldiers charge, out goes a battle cry...And blood runs into rivers where they lie" The last song is "Final Scream" and it's just a little too cheesey for my taste, the song itself isn't bad, but I cannot get past the intro...Man why did they have to do that, they almost had a near perfect album.

So in closing, there's not alot of diversity here. But if you're looking for diversity look else-where. Grim Reaper where a band that really stuck to their guns, and had the old "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" way of writing songs. I give this album my highest reccomndation, if you like 80's metal at all, you will love this.

This was my introduction to Grim Reaper, sometime in the mid-1990s. I found the tape for 49 cents in the bargain bin, and for that price, I had to get it just because the song titles looked cool. I was quite pleasantly surprised.... this is is pretty much what you'd expect metal from 1985 to sound like - not overly silly, but definitely with an 80s vibe. (The J-card has a promo that, aside from expiring in 1985, sums up the general attitude of the band nicely by asking trivia questions about Maiden, Twisted Sister, and Motorhead.)

We start with the title track - a very nice catchy main riff and some cool leads as well. The rest of the album is in the same vein, with "Never Coming Back" and "Lord of Darkness" a bit more midpaced, and "Matter of Time" generally fast.

"Rock and Roll Tonight" is a bit cheesy, but still quite good, and then "Let the Thunder Roar" is the other great highlight of the album. "Lay it on the Line" and "Fight for the Last" are good as well - there really isn't too much variety in the songs, but if one's a winner, they pretty much all are. "Final Scream" has a really stupid intro piece, but the song itself is great.

Overall - it's a bit on the repetitive side, but still an enjoyable listen.