Russia, the land of vodka, Poetin, snow and metal. Metal you say? Hell yeah! Lifelong Days is the second time I encounter the band Grenouer, who have some nice tricks up their sleeve. Formed in 1992, the band has progressed from death metal to material that has melody, groove and features polyrhythmic and industrial bits and pieces. Sounds like good music right?

Right! The sound most close to Grenouer’s is definitely Meshuggah and the likes. Think of Textures, Strapping Young Lad, Cilice and Gojira without the really fast stuff and you get the picture. The overall quality of the songs is outstanding, they’re highly dynamic and (polyrhythmic) groovy and are recorded with an excellent production and mixing. The twists and hooks keep you on your toes while the overall groove does induce you to move along. Top notch metal music I say!

 

However, there is one small downfall. Vocalist Andrey Ind has a good brutal voice which he uses nicely, yet his clean vocal parts are not all of the same quality. I don’t hear an Eric Kalsbeek or Joe Duplantier singing here unfortunately, yet with some more practise who knows what will happen. Still I recommend this record to fans of the bands mentioned above, it would be a shame to miss out on these great songs for just that minor. Lifelong Days shows Grenouer on a higher level again and I hope they keep rising until they can do a full tour through Europe and create a bigger audience for themselves. Keep it up guys, I have faith!