Kyrbgrinder - Cold War Technology CD review

They Say :- 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.

We Say :- A fair amount of new music arrives at the CackBlabbath inbox or drops through the front door each week, and everything that arrives is listened to and (unless it's really awful) reviewed as objectively as possible. Although there are a lot of beats and riffs competing for attention it is still nice when something arrives that just grabs your attention and won't let go. Blue Gillespie, Furyon and Shrine of the Monkey have been the best examples of this in recent months, but to this illustrious list we are delighted to add London based band Kyrbgrinder, and their impressive new album 'Cold War Technology'.

Kyrbgrinder are a three piece, although you would never guess that from the noises they make. The band consists of Johanne James on drums and vocals, Alberto 'Albi' Flaibani on bass and Tom Caris on guitar and together they produce an impressive and unique sound. Kyrbgrinder are another band that are breaking down the barriers between genres and depending on which track you're listening to it can be progressive metal or melodic rock, but there are also infusions of funk that come through here and there.

This is an album that strikes that fine balance between 'straight up' rock and more experimental progressive metal extremely well. There are hook laden riffs overlaid with Johanne's impressive voice all worked expertly into well written and lyrically very intelligent songs. It's an unusual, and refreshingly unique, mix of styles that combines to produce something just a little special.

There are fairly straight up rockers on here, such as the opening track 'Cynical World' along with more progressive tracks, but in truth it's impossible to break this down track by track as the various styles are blended almost seamlessly.

If you want to go deeper, there is also a strong political and social 'conscience' to Kyrbgrinder to which their lyrical abilities does full justice. In 'People of the free world' we are implored to open our eyes to political and religious sleaze, warmongering and destruction..

All in the name of democracy,
All in the name of the paranoid American,
All in the name of bureaucracy,
All in the name of the paranoid American.

It's intelligent without being preachy and to be honest it's nice to hear something where the lyrics are thought provoking and make some sort of sense, especially when the music sounds good.

The most divisive track on the album will undoubtedly be the cover version of Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box. To be honest, I'm not the world's biggest Nirvana fan but here it doesn't seem too out of place. It's certainly a brave inclusion if nothing else.

Kyrbgrinder are touring the UK, I for one am looking forward to catching them live. If you like your rock and metal melodic, progressive and intelligent I recommend you go see them too.

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