Serious Grind
First of All...
5.7
Serious Grind play a peculiar, often melodic cross between grindcore and old-school death metal. Don’t expect norsecore, but rather a crusty, rough style that strikes me as being pretty good, though definitely in need of some polish. I respect the band’s choice to mix genres, but the result is perhaps too off-kilter, as the band’s style changes between songs; some of the cuts are straight forward blast, while others introduce stronger melodic elements. On the whole, First of All is an energetic release that catches a promising band at a nascent stage.
As mentioned, the songwriting on this release is solid but inconsistent, due to the band not yet having perfected their blend of styles. Songs like “Hippies Have the Right Idea” are clumsy and a bit too repetitive, but on the whole, the riffs and song structures are above average. Serious Grind are at their best during the thrashier segments of their songs, as indicated by “Blind Faith” and several other cuts. Some of the riffs meander into nu-metal territory, but thankfully, this is rare. On the whole, there is too much use of samples, and the band’s sense of humor -- “Goth Kids Are Gay” -- is trite. There is too much filler material towards the end of the album, and this lowers the songwriting score.
Serious Grind back their songwriting with rather good musicianship; the guitar playing is strong, and the bass has an obvious presence on the recording. The percussion is pretty good, though the skins are too loud and tend to overwhelm the other playing. Production might be the biggest weakness on this release, as First of All was mixed somewhat poorly, in my opinion. The levels are off and some of the music is muffled, though the production is far from unbearable.
First of All is a pretty good CD, but it sounds more like a demo to me than something worthy of being released as a proper full-length. Serious Grind have potential, especially if they are able to get focused and excise some of their duller songwriting tendencies. First of All is worth a spin, but the band is probably capable of more, and I suggest that they push themselves further.
