(Hard Rock / Progressive Metal) Kyrbgrinder - Cold War Technology - 2010, MP3 (tracks), 320 kbps

Hard rockin' funky, riffy, metal grooves, a keen sense of melody and an engaging appeal is what you can expect from the London based trio that is KYRBGRINDER.
Fronted by four times drummer of the year Johanne James, who is no stranger to the limelight, having played a variety of stages from small venues to major festivals around the world, treading the boards with the likes of Dream Theater, Psychotic Waltz, Breed 77, Hawkwind and Pain of Salvation. Johanne will be well known to many as the 'engine room' of Threshold, who are considered one of the leading lights of the progressive metal scene.
Johanne formed KYRBGRINDER as a means of sharing his unique style of hard driving, infectious melodic rock that refuses to be pigeonholed, appealing to a wide spectrum of fans.
KYRBGRINDER are: Johanne James on drums and lead vocals and Alberto 'Albi' Flaibani on bass.
Following the release of their debut album 'Defiance' on the legendary metal label Mausoleum Records they have subsequently gigged extensively building a hard-core fanbase and an awesome live reputation.
They have successfully appeared on the main stage of the Bull Dog Bash two years running and regularly play at venues such as The Astoria, The Underworld, Bloodstock, Carling Academy and the Cambridge Rock Festival to name but a few.
2010 will see the release of their new album 'Cold War Technology' and this sees their style and sound continue to develop and will only enhance their appeal to an even wider audience.
Check back regularly for all the latest tourdates, gossip and developments...
http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=129048
http://www.myspace.com/kyrbgrinder
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kyrbgrinder/278919146030#!/pages/Kyrbgrinder/278919146030?v=info
http://www.leavethehall.co.uk/reviews/albums/kyrbgrinder-cold-war-technology/

I’ll admit it, I’ve been struggling with this. There, I said it. Anyone who follows my Twitter will know this from some of the messages I’ve posted over the last week or two regarding this album, and now you all do too. Ahh, that feels better!
I picked it out of the review queue as I’d heard good things about the band and most of those good things are still true, as I’ll get to in time. Having never heard or seen them, I felt like it would be good for me to try something different, and I’m always ready for new and interesting music, after all.
The band clearly care about how they sound, with a huge and expansive production revealing every nuance of their playing which is both powerful and varied. The vocals are superb with real range and expression, tons of soul and some great melodies weaving their way through the instrumentation – I kept getting reminded of Living Colour‘s Corey Glover. The thing that has been giving me trouble is this; the whole thing just doesn’t hang together properly.
Kyrbgrinder prove themselves more than capable of getting a solid groove on several times, and combined with the beefy mix they even get your head nodding. Until the verses start, that is. From the very first track ‘Cynical World’, Kyrbgrinder‘s split personality rears its head – a chunky, almost thrashy intro reminiscent of Disturbed at their heaviest gives way to a verse that reeks of Living Colour. Classic rock riffing, reggae-tinged basslines and soul-laced vocals with tight harmonies are a good thing, but put into the context set by the early part of the song they jar. Things get even more muddled in the middle section – the band decide to show how good they are at playing with time after a brief melodic excursion, switching around on themselves very ably, before the chorus drops back in from seemingly another planet.
The next track, ‘Don’t Be So Cold’ then turns it around – a guitar and vocal intro that wouldn’t seem out of place on a later Journey album gives way to a massive, chugging stoner-esque riff, harmonic squeals and all. ‘People Of The Free World’ introduces some keyboards and a gang chorus to the mix, thrashing away for all its worth and exposing some very weak lyrics – political rabble-rousing on a very basic scale, and possibly the worst mismatch of a song to a vocalist’s style I’ve heard in a long time during the verses. Its all very confusing, for the first few listens at least.
The rest of the album continues largely in the same vein, with some diversions via funk bass, power-metal vocal harmonies, and the odd REALLY heavy riff until a particularly ill-advised cover of Nirvana‘s ‘Heart Shaped Box’ breaks what momentum the band have built to this point. It almost seems to signal the point that the band ran out of ideas – the remainder of Cold War Technology takes a pretty severe nosedive from here on out. Length is a constant problem, really – some of the songs are perhaps a minute too long and lose some of their impact to the excessive repetition of some otherwise decent musical ideas.
The thing that struck me most about Kyrbgrinder is probably pretty clear – the disparity between Johanne James’ voice and the rest of the band. He is amazing pretty much throughout (aside from ‘People Of The Free World’, as I noted before) – the man can sing like a motherfucker, and whilst playing the drums too! The other two guys, Tommy Caris on guitar and Alberto Flaibani on bass are solid, tight, musically very capable and flexible and, well, need a more ‘heavy’ singer, if only so they can really let go. There is a real sense that Kyrbgrinder are holding back during the sections with vocals – the promise of some of the riffing hints at a properly-good, very heavy, balls-out metal band trying to get out. Letting Johanne concentrate on drumming would, in my opinion, give the band more freedom to work.
It does sound like I don’t like it, doesn’t it? As much as some of this album makes me grimace, I’ve found bits of the songs floating around my head unbidden over the last couple of weeks. They’re not without hooks, vocally or musically and as I said, some of the ideas contained here are great – some good heavy riffing, some truly great singing, some cracking melodies – and taken in isolation sound superb. Perhaps working with a proper producer may help them to focus and really live up to their promise?

Current line-up
Johanne James - Vocals, Drums (Threshold (Gbr))
Aaron Waddingham - Guitars
Albi Flaibani - Bass
Former/past member(s)
Guitars:
Dave Dart
Ben Glover (Ectopia (Gbr), Winter of Torment, Flesh (Gbr))

Bass:
Eddie Vendetta