Grip Inc.
Nemesis

Grip Inc. debuted on the scene in 1995 with "Power Of Inner Strength," an album that already hinted at the great potential of the band, devoted to a fresh and innovative Thrash Metal, despite a scene that was already in full crisis.

Behind the moniker Grip Inc. hide veterans of "heavy" music: Waldemar Sorychta (guitarist and brain of the group), a well-known metal producer, and Gus Chambers, a gifted singer hailing from the punk scene. Last but not least (definitely NOT), there's Dave Lombardo, a drummer who needs no introduction, apparently in a Thrash-nostalgic phase at the time. It is well known how the presence of certain figures in the musical field is a synonym for guarantee and quality (be it for their intelligence, or because they play with the ease of a rabbit mating); we can say without frills: Lombardo is one of these. A technique, inventiveness, and charisma that (we can say) adds to Nemesis a propulsive force of enormous proportions.

"Pathetic Liar" opens the album. Immediately, an excellent production, personally curated by Sorychta, stands out. It is Sorychta himself who surprises, as the reader moves from track to track. His style is very particular; he manages to blend the typical Thrash riffing with oriental melodies and strongly evocative atmospheres (sometimes supported by keyboards), opening spaces at will among the tight rhythms of Lombardo. Futuristic atmospheres that will find even better expression in Grip Inc.'s third (master)work: "Solidify." Completing the picture of one of the most solid bands of today's scene, we find Gus Chambers in great shape: his square and "German" singing is perfectly embedded in the Grip-sound, so much so that one quickly forgets his past as a punk screamer.

"Scream At The Sky" is the masterpiece of the album: abnormal rhythms serve as the backdrop to a scenario full of rebellion; it's a scream of despair rising from the belly and then exploding in all its drama towards the end of the piece.

Describing the album "track by track" would be pointless; each song maintains excellent quality levels, and the logical thread traced by the four artists supports every song, none excluded. Perhaps in this, a flaw of Nemesis can be found: its sturdiness, combined with the absence of interesting bass lines, might bore, especially listeners who are not very attentive and not accustomed to the genre.

Ultimately, if you consider yourselves "good metalheads," go and buy it immediately (not doing so would be a mortal sin); if the genre isn’t your thing, well, I at least hope to have piqued your interest: give it a listen.