Customer Reviews

Incorporated

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I know Grip Inc. is supposed to resemble Slayer. Dave Lombardo once former and now current Slayer drummer extraordinaire is the bands founder and leader but I find the album, Incorporated to be sort of an amalgamation of Black Metal and Heavy Metal.

From a Heavy Metal point of view I am reminded of Monster Magnet and from a Black Metal perspective, Samael and Tiamat. I suppose the resemblance to Tiamat is not surprising considering, Waldemar Sorychta, the excellent guitar player, once played for Tiamat on two of their better albums

Incorporated is Grip's fourth album and though I've only heard snippets from the first three, to me it seems that they are getting less hardcore with each subsequent release. Fans of Slayer and early Grip Inc. may not appreciate this evolution but I find the variety of textures and tempos in this album, which are missing to varying degrees is the previous releases, to be far more interesting. All songs are written by Sorychta and Gus Chambers, Grip's throaty singer and are contemporary Heavy Metal, always displaying the strengths of these phenomenal musicians who seem to go together like bacon and eggs.

Killer and Almost Killer Cuts

"The Answer" is a medium fast but variable number that has a Toolish, Middle Eastern melody and background during the chorus. The verses are slower and speed up on the choruses which are sung much heavier

"Prophecy" Best song. A very catchy beat permeates this clever, rousing medium fast song. This is a song you want to get up and dance to, especially in the chorus which have backing vocalists. This song gets your attention and stays with you.

"Enemy Mind" Here we slow down but just a little. We start out with a nifty acoustic guitar solo intro for about 45 seconds, whereupon chambers picks up the vocal and the pace picks up. Another catchy number although not like "Prophecy".

"Skin Trade" Very fast tempo, highly melodic, with a somewhat Middle Eastern Flavor

"(Built To) Resist" Best song. Already taken? Ok, it's a tie. Resist is a much slower, deliberate song with a cello a violin and who knows what else. This song really reminds me of Samael.

"The Gift" fairly uptempo with more of Samael's sound but with a Tool background. Hmmmm, very interest....ing.

"Blood of Saints" Best song! Already taken, twice? Ok, it's a three way tie. Monster Magnet it is. Wow, catchy beat and melody. Medium fast, similar to the other faster songs but of course a little better. Kind of like Deadman's Party with attitude

"Man With No Insides" man this Lombardo can play the drums, the man with the golden hands and iron leg. Another song in the Tiamat/Samael vein, slow and ominous and oh so catchy!!

Conclusion

Incorporated is a assemblage of first-rate riffs cleverly dispersed into 11 catchy ditties enhanced by over the top performances with personality and chops galore and which defies many of metal's genre-specific trends like brutal Death Metal grunts and grating Black Metal fatalism. It is both modern and primitive, tribal and mechanical, occasionally mixed with Arabian melodies and electronic elements

In a nutshell these are accomplished musicians whose work meshes together to form a moderately industrialized, clinically precise, user friendly Heavy Metal. Lombardo's thunder skin work is balls out great, Sorychta's many razor sharp riffs are perfect and Chambers plays his role to a tee.

Final Rating: 4.45 stars

Similar Artists

Monster Magnet, Rage, Babylon (...), Rain, Axxis, Tiamat, Samael, Sentenced, In Flames, Slayer

Well everyone always says "slayer" when referring to Grip, but I've never thought that was the case, even on their older discs...but it's really not the case on this disc. I must admit, when I first bought this CD, I wasn't TOTALLY into it...but the riffs are infections...and the songs stay in your head. I found myself putting back in the CD almost everyday until I grew to love it.

It's a refreshing change of pace from the typical thrash you hear...but it's still heavy as heck. It's really hard to describe, but I definitely put it in my top 10 of the year. The songs are good, but there are about 5 or 6 REALLY badass songs that justify buying this. From the 2nd song to about the 7th...it's just great music! :-)

No, Grip inc. can't be compared to Slayer. Indeed, the man behing the band is the singer: Gus Chambers. He does the job (music and lyrics) and then Waldemar and Dave play it. I read it could resemble Tiamat. No way! Just listen to the two last releases of Tiamat (excellent by the way!), it has nothing to do with this. Grip inc. is probably one of the best metal bands ever because it does never follow what the standards are and plays its own music. It's really creative with many ambiances mid-tempos and various crazy arrangements. I would rather compare them to Machine Head for that reason. Well, overall this album is one of the best of 2004. It takes several times to really appreciate it, because it's very rich and unusual. Nothing compares to this! Just try it, please!!!

Have you ever felt you've been left out of the loop? Forgotten? Always the last to know?
Well that is about how I feel at this particular point in time. How come no one ever told me about Grip Inc? Have I been living in an alternate universe?

For those that don't know about Grip Inc, let me edumacate you.
Grip Inc is comprised of Gus Chambers (vocals), Waldemar Sorychta (Guitars, Vocals ) and Dave Lombardo (Drums, Percussion). Waldemar is a German guitarist, and Dave is well known for being in bands such as Slayer and Fantomas. They have been together since 1995, no doubt kicking butt and taking names! The have put out 3 albums (now 4 including there latest `Incorporated'): Power of Inner Strength, Nemesis, and Solidify.

Remember the 80's, when rock was alive? When it was loud, in your face, and "large and in charge"? The days when bands like Metallica and Slayer ruled the airwaves? This is what Grip Inc. gives us. The statement here is that Rock is alive and well!

"WE ARE A DYING BREED"- quote from song "Privilege"
It has been a long time since I have heard "that" rock sound that Grip Inc. give you in their recent album Incorporated. It's not heavy metal, its not speed metal, its not thrash metal, it's the corporation of them all into one without favoring one type of sound above the other. It's Grip Rock! They definitely have their own distinct sound and carry with that sound, personal lyrics as well as allowing themselves to take chances by incorporating such elements as classical guitar and eastern flavor in their sounds. Their lyrics are not quite political, not quite "feel sorry for me", and not quite "I'm going to kill you because you hurt me" . A definite well rounded blend of music and lyrics, and that is so hard to find these days.

I have to go back to how refreshing this sound is. I honestly thought metal was dead! All you old schoolers out there are really going to enjoy this album. Crème de la crème for sure! So many bands have transformed and conformed to today's standards of music, Grip Inc has definitely paved the way for those bands that want to stay within their roots. These guys are not afraid to be who they are! ROCK ON!

It is completely amazing to me how well these guys play together. The drums, vocals and guitar sounds are simply amazing. They intertwine their talents like nothing I have ever heard before. These guys belong together, and you need to allow this sweetness to pour into your ears and allow it to seep into your heart and soul.

Luckily you can hear a track off of their latest album thanks to SPV. Also with this CD there are a couple of "extras". There are 3 videos; 2 for songs and one is a behind the scenes interview type video. The music videos themselves in my opinion could have been better. They are just in studio videos and in no way an artistic approach to render the selected songs. I would have liked them to do something "artistic" in the way of the videos, but... you have to remember, these guys are not your run of the mill band.

A MUST HAVE! Especially if you are a fan of rock music done the RIGHT way! I have fallen in love, and look forward to hearing more from these guys! Real head-banging material here folks! SUBMIT TO IT!!!!!!

well, after being sorely dissapointed by some of metal's recent band comebacks, which I expected to be better than they were (Tesla, Death Angel, Anthrax and Exodus); etc. I have to say that 'Incorporated' was a breath of fresh air for me. The whole album is absolutely phenomenal, aggressive, catchy, heavy... everything that you'd expect a thrash album to be.

Lombardo and gang pull no punches with this release. The creative juices flow, especially on track 7 (Built to resist), where violas are played in harmony with the crunchy, heavy guitar riffs. The songs are catchy, haunting, rememberable. The CD has been in my player constantly since I purchased the album, and it shows no signs of being replaced any time soon.

It's about time a band stood up for TROO metal, instead of becoming a corporate sell-out, like so many of their contemporaries.

The Devil's main man in his marching band Dave Lombardo once again provides his supersonic death chops to another project. This time it's his long time band Grip Inc. Tracks like "Curse of the Cloth", "Endowment of Apathy" and "Skin Trade" are total double bass fury mixed with powerful, clean and thick guitars and vocalist Gus Chambers who enunciates like a private school Lit professor. The truth of the matter that this thing is only one Portuguese accent away from being Chaos A.D., that's how good Incorporated, is. It dive bombs, kills all the kids in the village and leaves no trace of regret: hard, heavy and no frills. The standout track though is "Enemy Mind" with its tribal percussion, acoustic guitars and all out goodtime death feel. Think Jack Johnson if his day job was driving a Sherman tank into schoolyards. Beach music for the napalm border that Robert Duvall was gonna surf in Apocalypse Now. Charlie doesn't surf but he sure can rock!

This is by far their worst album. Nothing special at all and i can say that is below an average band. I loved Nemesis and i really liked there other 2 albums but this one is a disaster. Only for collectors

I know that Slayer is probably the first band that pops into people's heads when trying to describe what Grip, Inc's sound is all about. Given the presence of drummer Dave Lombardo in Grip's lineup, the comparison makes sense. I've always thought that Grip most resembled another California thrash legend - Metallica. They don't necessarily sound like Metallica, certainly not newer (nu-er?) Metallica, but rather Grip, Inc. is what Metallica SHOULD have sounded like had they not abandoned their roots in the mid 1990's. Listen to Metallica's albums up through the black album and then go straight to Grip's catalog and tell me I'm wrong.

The bottom line is that Grip, Inc. is an absolutely incredible metal band, and one that is still criminally underrated. They've released a string of fantastic albums, the latest of which is 2004's Incorporated. Incorporated features all of the elements that make this band great - the aggression, the precision technicality, powerful song structures, and just the right amount of melody to keep it from becoming just another thrash album - but this one is a bit different from the band's previous works. The vocals on Incorporated are so similar to goth metal act Paradise Lost that you'll find yourself wondering if you're listening to something that band recorded in between Icon and Draconian Times (two albums that also bear a heavy Metallica influence). It's a slight change to Grip's sound, but it's a good one, and it helps keep the band's sound from getting stagnant.

Incorporated is sure to please longtime Grip, Inc. fans, and should also appeal to Paradise Lost fans, Slayer fans, and those who have given up on Metallica. Unfortunately it's also the band's final album, with the various members going their separate ways.

With this release, Grip Inc is back with the sound to which made them great (referring to their first album 'Power of Inner Strength.') Not to say that every album after their first was bad or drastically different (each album had a similar sound) but with 'Incorporated' the band really returned to better writing, which really helped them considering 'Solidify' was a little dull. This album could even be considered better than their first! Check it out...

Up until this release, I had given Grip Inc's 1st 3 CD's 5 star ratings.

But unfortunately I have to drop my rating to 4 for their 4th release, Incorporated.

Why is that? Well, for the 1st time, not all of the tracks on this album really jump out at the listener like they did on their prior 3 releases. The songwriting in a lot of ways has still improved, but the catchniness that was present in their other stuff sometimes isn't here quite as much.

The lyrics in particular seem to not be quite as strong on this release, though the vocals themselves are still great courtesy of Gus Chambers.

One interesting addition to this album is the presence of cellos on some tracks which really add a nice new element to the proceedings. I'm missing the booklet to my case, but I know that drummer Dave Lombardo had worked with Apocolyptica (an all cello group that plays metal numbers) between their last album and this one and I think that they are the ones doing the cello work on this album.

Basically, if you liked the 1st 3 CD's, you'll like this one. Just don't expect it to match up quite as much and you'll enjoy it.