10 Steps to Hell

The Power. It's exactly what you feel when this album kicks in after that 5 second cd spin-up delay. Then, your ears are brutalized so hard you try to keep pace. After a minute of throwing you around it slows down just a bit and you are promptly told to raise your fists and bang your head. The guitars keep a fast past chugging that I myself find hard to accomplish. The vocals tear right through you, from the high end black metal screams to the low end growls. Then, the breakdown with drum spin-down and vocals gives you something to plot whats left in the room to tear apart and destroy. A nice squelch keeps you tuned in as you see a multitude of colors from thrashing about. Then, you get some nice bends with echo and a heavy chugging overlay. It's mean and sharp and it dices body parts. The rest of this song is slow, but it still kicks hard.

Separation Of My Soul. A quick "belch" and the guitars/drums launch this track viciously. After the chugging a hellacious scream assaults you right in the face. This scream is so powerful that it makes me smile until I split open, if I don't join in with it. The chugging returns and sets up for the vocals to start. The lyrics are brutal as per Grimfist's wishes. Every time the chorus comes and the vocalist screams you want to slam things around. Some clean vocals are oddly out of place, but tolerable. Evil chuckles and all, this track is top notch evil brutality.

Breed Apart. Odd riffs start this before the grim vocals kick in. The lead guitar has some odd riffs in this song, but you get used to them after a few listens. The double-bass drums add a nice touch around 2:15. Deffinantly a good track, but not my favorite. The break down around 3:00 in is good however, so it turns it around. It overwhelms you with this sort of "lost world and soul" feeling that drops you from grimness to despair. I like it and im sure millions of bi-polar people might agree!

Unborn is an instrumental that holds alot of talent for the guitarist. Un-distorted it is still very good. Setting you up for the actual track, Unborn, it kicks in with very heavy chugging guitars and drums. The drums switch to fast pace double kick and its off. High and low vocals contradict each other flawlessly. "To Bring A Life, Into The Void, Then Watch It Fade Away. To Have Regrets, Haunting Your Mind, Will Make You Burn And Fall". Guitar solo to finish the touch. Very catchy and very dark. A minute or so of just guitarists and drums, then some low end growls. The vocals are simply amazing.

The Ashes Of The Gods. Lead guitar starts off with some double picking backed by the double bass again before the other guitar kicks in, faster. Vocals kick in chillingly after a pick slide before the vocalist is screaming at you and the guitars are...yes..chugging along... A change in riffs gives you a break from the endless chug before a pretty kick-ass solo kicks in and you decide it was worth sitting through the chugging. The chugging returns but its not so horrible because another kick ass solo kicks in and tears through the song. It seems like the guitarist said..."to hell with this chugging" and went insane with solos. Over-all not a bad song. The chugging gets a little old but the solo's provide and much needed break and keep this song from being boring. The vocals are pretty good, but it gets old hearing "the ashes of the gods" 60 times over.

Reap The Fire. It "fires" off without too much chugging and really good lead riffs that keep you running through the field from the pissed of gnomes. The vocals are as brutal as ever before you get some not so easy to identify keyboard (it sounds like) parts with a little girl giggling. Its a sexual predators prayers answered. Why put a giggling little girl there? I did not say Grimfist cares what you think. Out of nowhere everyone kicks in at once like a stalking panther jumping on your back. Deep and evil vocals taunt your eardrums as high pitched screams remind you that this is still Black Metal. The guitars and drums are yet again genius and it keeps you pounding your head all the way to the end.

Touched by a Shadow of Evil. This is exactly how you feel up to this point. You feel like you have become one with the demons of below. It starts off very weird, like curling up in a corner somewhere and declaring your soul and heart fractured like the swords of a thousand warriors. Almost horror movie like, the intro makes you breath deep and feel the despair. The entire track makes you feel like your world is burning to the ground with you trapped inside.

Tools Of The Trade starts off with some slow picking that will elevate into an explosion of distortion I cant seem to push my pedals to match and screams like your throwing your fists into the air. It hurls you onto your ass and forces the air out of your lungs. When you try to stand, your hit in the face with a scream of "violence rising" and your put where you belong, on the cold earth. The guitars and drums chug along until a change of riffs that keeps you from getting bored of the chugging again. The vocals launch an assault each time he screams and some weird lead riffs lay overtop the chugging to keep that despaired feeling scratching at your front door until it lets off into more clean picking. The chorus kicks you in the teeth to make sure your at your unholiest, bloodiest appearance before unleashing some good, metallic sounding riffs to bang your head at. The notes have a touch of honey half way through the riffs before going into some good chugging that you cant help but bang along with. Delay at the end is badass.

Fight Or Die is the only choice left. The hammer-on/pull-off intro is insane. Screams start shortly to help the riffs cut your face off cleanly. Wouldn't want to rip the mask that was your face. FIGHT OR DIE! The chorus is clean but has distorted vocals behind it. Some lead riffs kick off after it and their pretty kick ass with a squelch followed by an evil laugh that leaves only some cymbal strikes and a chugging guitar for 10 seconds or so before the drums come back to the battle. It ends just as soon as the assault began, leaving (me) wishing for more of this song.

All in all I think this is yet another killer album from Grimfist. Their first album was a little more raw than this one because it seems that in Ten Steps to Hell they overused the clean vocals a little. In Ghouls Of Grandeur the clean vocals came around once or twice and were used sparingly. Between the Black Metal screams and awesome guitars I think this album is defiantly worth a try. It has a little trash element in it but I think it improves the album. Grimfist defiantly has a huge tub of talent and are on a plateau of their own as far as genre. If you don't like chugging, this album may not be for you, however, don't count this album out! Give it a shot and discover the cruel brutality that is Grimfist!