CoC : Grimegod - The Darkside (Pain in Another Dimension) : Review

Grimegod - _The Darkside (Pain in Another Dimension)_
(Bestial, 1998)
by: Brian Meloon (7 out of 10)

This is a remix album of Grimegod's best material. It's generally doomy, atmospheric black metal, but it has some elements of other styles as well (the intro to "Dreamside Scream", which in the original version was the middle section, is notable for its "progressive" and neo-classical touches). The music is generally good, but it isn't consistent: some parts are a little drawn out and boring. The keyboard parts are varied and interesting, showing a variety of tones and textures. The band doesn't have a drummer, but the drum programming is very good: it's interesting, and doesn't sound like a drum machine most of the time. The production is good; a little light on the guitar tone, but average for black metal. Certainly the weakest link for this band is the singer, whose clean parts are way too flat to be ignored. The rest of the playing is great, but the singing ruins parts of it. Overall, these guys are good, and they appear to have potential, but they need some work to flesh out their ideas and get consistently good output.

(article published 1/9/1998)