One band that’s spent plenty of time in our Sifting Through Bandcamp pages is that of the UK’s Grimgotts. After completing two EPs just in 2016 alone, they’ve now delivered their first offering of 2017. Continuing along the lines of their previous works, Grimgotts serves up plenty of fun and energetic power metal that’s destined for a wider audience.
As it’s been stated before, part of the appeal to Grimgotts is their uncanny ability to steer in just the right amount of fun and goofy humor with genuine power metal vibes that are hard to shake. At no point does the album seem like a joke-y release, but rather a band capturing the feeling that one would expect from an album entitled Part Man, Part Beast, Part Dragon. The twenty minutes of this EP hit just the right marks, from the explosive “Struck by Fire” (sounding almost like Equilibrium meets pure power metal in tone) to the bouncy and upbeat “Follow Me” to more mellow sing-a-long antics of “Close to Home,” embracing big and jovial synths that maintain an epic tone, while the riffs are as melodic as they are sharp. The choruses are also big, and while they aren’t the most brutal, certainly serve to bore their way into your skull.
Music that’s unapologetically power metal in tone has its place (see Twilight Force) and Grimgotts serve as another outlet of this nature. It may not sway one’s opinion of the genre, but it’s well-done and a light-hearted break from the usual dark and depressive nature of much of metal’s output. The type of album that you can simply raise a beer to and enjoy beginning to end. And with the band’s tradition of “name your price” downloads, there’s no reason not to dive in.