Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

Demos and independent releases get some slack since the bands are often spent broke supporting themselves and trying to improve. Major releases usually have big financial backing, so they may be judged by a heavier hand. All scores can be eventually adjusted up or down by comparison of subsequent releases by the same band. We attempt to keep biases out of reviews and be advocates of the consumer without the undo influence of any band, label, management, promoter, etc.

The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.
Band
Grenouer
Title
Try
Type
LP/EP
Company
Siberian League
YOR
2006
Style
Death
10/18/2007 - Review by: Etiam
Grenouer - Try - 2006 - Siberian League

Track Listing:
1. Devil's Eye
2. All Along The Runway
3. Powdering Squeeze
Grenouer are part of Russia’s long-standing metal scene that is only recently gaining recognition in the international community. No single group has been able to bring the world’s largest country, and it has instead been left to a host of obscure veterans to slowly build up the country’s reputation. From pagan metal (Temnozer) to progressive (Mechanical Poet) to death metal (Hieronymus Bosch) and beyond, the Motherland has shown itself to be a unique and noteworthy presence.

In their younger days, Grenouer would also have been a prime candidate for this task. Having formed in the early 90’s, they were evidently well established as a brutal death metal band with a significant following. However, with ‘Try’ it is clear that Grenouer have traded in their cloaks once again to keep up with the times, and the result is less than satisfying.

From brief moments throughout ‘Try’ it is clear that Grenouer have the technical chops to do some serious damage, and the beefy mix of this EP/demo would do wonders for any respectable death metal tune. Unfortunately, they limit themselves almost exclusively to chug-a-chug Meshuggah imitations that quickly become tiresome and continue Grenouer’s downward spiral into irrelevance. Some slight industrial tinges spice up these 10 minutes a touch, but they are limited and ultimately inconsequential. The band’s vocalist, Ind, also is persistently awkward, generally favoring an oddly strained shout and some harsher vocals that sound like an even more phlegm-plagued version of Pekka Kokko (Kalmah).

If nothing else, Grenouer have put together a nice package on this release, including a multimedia section that features some amusing snapshots of an English technician’s comments on their lyrics. Their music, though, (perhaps excepting their cover of A-ha’s ‘Take On Me’) does not equal their sense of humor for subtlety or appeal. Rather, they have played directly into the hands of gleeful anti-core metalheads everywhere who will rip Grenouer apart for hopping on the genre bandwagon a few years too late. To make it in today’s demanding scene, and if you’ll pardon the awful pun, Grenouer will have to ‘Try’ again and recover from their ongoing downward spiral.



Rating: 1.5



--Etiam
  • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
    1.5 :AVE RATING

ALL REVIEWS FOR: GRENOUER
TITLE
DOR
COMPANY
REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
Try
2006
Siberian League
Etiam10/18/2007
1.5

ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: GRENOUER
INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE


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