Grand Massive - III

After two releases designated as EPs according to their season, the Bavarian “Wüsten-Gemeinschaft” presents their first long iron with “III”. However, this is damn short with just over 32 minutes playing time and should therefore provide material for discussion.

But that shouldn't irritate the quintet further, because it remains the only point of criticism and even that is put into perspective, since one could immortalize "hammers" on the disc without exception. After a short, restrained introduction, 'Deliver Me' gets straight to the point. GRAND MASSIVE shows that the traditional comfort zone, which has always been roughly located in the intersection of hearty Heavy and Stoner Rock as well as Southern Metal, should by no means be left, but now apparently much more intensive attention has been paid to hooks and melodies.

As a result, the refrain of the opener grinds itself into memory just as quickly as that of the following, mighty pounding 'Power Of Gods' – in which the gas pedal is duly stepped on – in the tradition of early DOWN elaborates. Due to the timbre of singer Alex Andronikos, which is slightly reminiscent of Glenn DANZIG in more moderate passages, the subsequent 'Taurus' turns into a kind of contemporary intonation of the 90s heroic deeds from the portfolio of the "ham god" and various companions.

Alex also reminds of DANZIG in the western ballad 'Horseman', an acoustically casual "downer number". After that, there's a lot of bells again, namely with the crusher 'The Hunter', in which it's not just the booming bass that exudes some of the flair of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY from the "Blind" days. So far, so good, but the ultimate breakers are yet to come. DOWN could also be very proud of 'Massive Of The Sun' and 'Souleaters', introduced by hypnotic percussions and developing into a CROWBAR roller, is already after that First contact is embedded in the long-term memory and need not fear any comparison.

Congrats on this disc guys! Hopefully we'll hear "4" (or "IV" if you like) from you soon, although of course it can also be 70 (or even more) minutes of playing time.

https://powermetal.de/review/review-Grand_Massive/III,29811.html