Almost exactly one year ago we premiered a song from The Age of Aquarius, the latest album by the Finnish horror-prone black metal band Gloomy Grim, and today we have yet another premiere from the band, but one uprooted from the distant past. It appears on a compilation entitled Fuck The World, War Is War!, which is a combining of the titles of the two early demos that it encompasses: The first five tracks on this new compilation come from the band’s first demo, Fuck The World, Kill The Jehova! (1996), and the next three tracks first appeared on the second demo, Friendship Is Friendship, War Is War! (1997).
When the first demo was recorded during the upheaval of black metal’s second wave, Gloomy Grim was the solo project of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Agathon. By the time the second demo was recorded, he had drawn to his side the female vocalist Whisper Lilith as well as guitarist Mörgoth and bassist Torso. The song we’re premiering today — “Reign” — was the final track on that second demo.
The current incarnation of Gloomy Grim
The spooky symphonic introduction to “Reign” reflects one of the the band’s consistent inspirations — horror movie soundtracks — and the swirling and bounding sounds of organ and strings persist throughout the song as its leading melodic component, joined by voices both cracked and croaking, and by a deep, grumbling bass and the pumping propulsion of a pneumatic drum line. As the pace slows, the music becomes even more oppressively ominous and threatening before the track closes with a final sinister flourish.
Fuck The World, War Is War! will be co-released by Satanath Records’ sub-label Symbol Of Domination (Belarus) and the Italian label Murdher Records. Below you can also check out two more songs from the album — “Blood” (which also comes from Gloomy Grim’s second demo and is a free download at Bandcamp) and “Pope of the Black Arts” (which appeared on the band’s first demo).
Gloomy Grim on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AgathonTheBeast/
One Response to “AN NCS PREMIERE: GLOOMY GRIM — “REIGN””
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I’ve been following Gloomy Grim loosely since sophomore full-length Life? (2000). Thus it’s interesting to hear from whence they came, albeit it’s not exactly any more impressing then suspected. There’s something almost charmingly nostalgic about the synthetic expression.