GRIFFIN - "Lifeforce" (Massacre Records, 2005)
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CONTACT
MASSACRE RECORDS Label: Massacre Records Distribution: Soulfood Release-Date: August 29th 2005 |
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LINE UP Marius Karlsen (Drums) Marcus Silver (Guitar) Pete Beck (Vocals, Percussion) Kai Nergaard (Guitar) Johnny Wanberg (Bass) DISCOGRAPHY: 1999 Wasteland Serenades 2002 The Sideshow 2003 No Holds Barred 2005 Lifeforce |
TRACKLIST: 1.accelerate 2.rest 3.premonition 4.recipe for rage 5.utopia 6.dungeon 7.moment of madness 8.building a future 9.lifeforce 10.bound in re-runs 11.leylines 12. unforgiver (bonus track) |
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| GRIFFIN, hailing from Trondheim, Norway, was
formed in late ‚98. After two demos quickly recorded in 99, the band
got the attention of French label Season of Mist, and released the
debut album „Wasteland Serenades“ in the following year. Despite the
critical acclaim especially in Europe, the album didn‘t give the
band fame nor fortune, and the band decided to put all of their
efforts in the next album. Having added the second guitar player,
Marcus Silver, to have more guitar melodies and twin leads, the band
released the second album „The Sideshow“ in 2002, again on Season of
Mist. Upon the release, the band went on a few tours, first as the
support to the black metal legends Mayhem, then as an opening act
for Dark Tranquillity‘s extensive European tour, with Sinergy as a
special guest. Just before hitting the road with Dark Tranquillity,
the singer Tommy Sebastian quit the band to pursue his career
outside of music, and the band got their long-time friend and the
singer for such bands as Fig Leaf and Atrox, Pete Beck, in as their
new singer. With his enormous talents and musical understanding, the
band was getting ready to make further steps. The band started
writing new materials in the late 2002. In the meantime, they
decided to end their relationship with Season of Mist and signed a
one-album deal with the Norwegian label FaceFront in the beginning
of 2003. They enter the Skansen studio in the summer of 2003 and
started recording the new album. Children Of Bodom frontman Alexi
Laiho not only produced the album, but also provided some guest
appearances on both vocals and guitars. This happened because of the
years of friendship between Laiho and GRIFFIN guitarist Kai
Nergaard, and in fact Laiho offered Nergaard the position of his
guitar partner in Children Of Bodom, who had just lost the guitar
player! After much thought, he decided to turn the offer down to
pursue his ambitions to succeed with GRIFFIN. Following the release
of the new „No Holds Barred“ album in Norway in September, 2003, the
band went on a Scandinavian tour with other Norwegian bands
Einherjer, Lumsk and Scariot organized by the Norwegian metal
magazine „Scream Magazine“. The album received outstanding reviews
in all of the Norwegian press, with some describing the band as „the
new rules of the Norwegian metal throne“! A licensing deal with SPIRITUAL BEAST quickly followed, and they finally made a debut in Japan in 2004. The Japanese version featured two exclusive live bonus tracks along with the video clip of the album opener „The Sentence“, which, in the meantime, was among the top 5 requested tracks on a Norwegian metal video show for more than a half year. Although Pete Beck suffered from a heart attack in the spring of 2004, and was away from the band for a while, he made a full recovery and returned to the band, to prove that his heart is in the music, and much stronger than before! The band signed a multi-album deal with SPIRITUAL BEAST in August 2004, and took the world by storm by playing a sensational performance at the Wacken Open Air in the same month (included on „Armageddon Over Wacken“ compilation both on CD and DVD). In January 2005, they entered the Godt Selskap Studios in Trondheim, Norway, to record their 4th album „Lifeforce“. The album was produced by the King Diamond guitar player, Andy LaRocque, together with the band, and is released in July 2005 by Spiritual Beast in Japan and in August by Massacre Records in Europe. To promote the album, the band is currently working on touring options in Europe, and it looks positive that they will be on tour with a very well-known act later this year
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