(Didrik Mešiček prepared the following review of a debut album by the Budapest-based band Grymheart. It will be released soon by Scarlet Records.)
You wouldn’t have thought so if you knew me today, but power metal was my entry point into metal and, for a while, probably my favourite subgenre, However, as years passed and tastes evolved I realised I’m not finding many new power metal releases that are interesting or engaging, yet alone complex enough to really satisfy my desires.
But once in a while something pops up that seems fun as well as actually musically interesting, which is why I’ll be talking about the debut album, Hellish Hunt, from the Hungarian Grymheart today, which will be released on the 22nd of September on Scarlet Records.
Photo Credit: Krisztina Mate
After a brief and gentle intro the band jump into “Hellbent Horde,” which quickly shows this is much more than a simple power metal album. Despite the base of the sound being centred on it, there’s just a lot more happening as there’s a clear folk metal influence in the harmonies, while the vocals are surprisingly harsh but still quite intelligible.
“Ignis Fatuus” is one of the band’s prereleased singles and it’s not hard to see why it was chosen. The song has a very folky opening and actually sounds quite a bit like an (older) Ensiferum song and manages to be quite catchy, especially in the chorus once the vocals are switched to cleans, and I’m already able to sing along after a few listens.
“To Die By the Succubus” changes the vibe slightly, and even flirts with melodeath but mostly focuses on being catchy and rhythmic with its combinations of vocals and guitar riffs. The potential issue with all of this is that it could just be a big unintelligible mess, but the band manage to blend several subgenres together quite well and thus aren’y creating any jarring contradictions in their sound.
The titular “My Hellish Hunt” showcases the typical fast power metal guitars, and the beginning of it really made me expect the classic high-pitched power metal scream that never comes. And I think that’s a good thing. I can see some people are going to have a problem with songs like these not having clean vocals, as well as them, in general, being mixed into the sound a bit more than we’re usually used to with power metal albums as opposed to being quite frontal, but I think it works quite well and actually lends more space to some lovely guitar solos.
Lyrically, the band talk about hunting mythical creatures but aren’t doing anything too exciting; as I’m reading through them, some of the rhymes feel fairly uninspired, but it is hard to expect deep philosophical messages from such music (although now I totally want a cool power metal album with lyrics based on Greek philosophers!).
Grymheart seem to have purposefully decided to sort the order of the songs in a way so that a slow song follows a faster one after which there’s another one that’s quite fast, which keeps the album from being too monotone.
The latter half of the album is a bit weaker and less memorable but it’s far from being just filler material. “Fenrir’s Sons” is another fun, catchy track while “Facing the Kraken” even has a slightly punkish beat to it that continues to show this album doesn’t let you be bored and keeps you engaged.
The Hungarians finish the album off with an eight-minute track called “Monsters Among Us” and show off a bit more advanced songwriting as they switch really well from softer passages back to more intense parts, driven forward by the drums and the guitars.
Photo Credit: Krisztina Mate
I really wish more power metal would be interesting (and it’s very arguable whether this is even a power metal album), as I’m pretty tired of hearing the same albums over and over again, but Hellish Hunt really shows promise and hopefully means Grymheart are one of those bands who can bring something new and revitalise the subgenre.
This is an interesting debut album, full of energy, catchy enough to be memorable while not being cheesy and cringey, and I hope they continue walking down this path between subgenres in their own unique manner.
LINEUP:
Gabriel Blacksmith – guitar, vocals
Dargor Rivgahr – guitar
V’arhel – bass
Sorin Nalaar – drums
https://scarletrecords.bandcamp.com/album/hellish-hunt
https://www.facebook.com/grymheartband/