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Metal Hammer (Greece) Issue # 240 - 2004-03-09

Metal Hammer (Greece): Issue # 240

A few months ago we were dealing with the Swedish band The Grand Trick and their amazing demo recording “First Trick”. Since then the quintet has entered the process of recording their debut full length album, “The Decadent Session”. The guys were kind enough to send us a promo of three tracks, two of them being completely new stuff and all of them in a rough mix. What escaped us in the review of the “First Trick” demo is the astonishing resemblance of The Grand Trick’s vocals with a very young James Hetfield of Metallica, as well as the singer of NWOBHM unsung heroes Sweet Savage. I believe NWOBHM is a key word when it comes to The Grand Trick, an old school band: their sound and their general approach to the heavy, yet melodic genre follows the traces of most british bands which between 1975 and 1980 refreshed the heavy metal sound. Besides Thin Lizzy, this band seems to really indulge into groups like the very early Judas Priest-especially their “Rocka Rolla” debut, Stray, Groundhogs, even maybe Snafu, as well as all the other bands I mentioned in my previous piece about The Grand Trick. All these bands had a certain denim and leather, street-level, sex-fixated sense and feel to their music and the same goes for these Swedes. I could probably mention more bands similar in attitude, like Mythra, Parallex and Sweet Savage, but then I hardly think that the members of Grand Trick have ever listened to them. Despite of that, in my opinion there are parallels to draw between them, and this is due to the common well of influences. The Grand Trick’s fanciful, well worked out and melody driven hard’n’heavy music can at its best be enjoyed if you use your headphones and sip on some red wine. There aren’t many bands like this one even in the whole retro scene, so methinks The Grand Trick is a category by themselves. The least I can do, besides waiting eagerly for their debut LP, is to fervently advise you to show interest in Grand Trick.

- (c) Vasilis Zacharopoulos for Metal Hammer, Greece

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