{"id":17958,"date":"2014-01-31T00:00:49","date_gmt":"2014-01-31T00:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=17958"},"modified":"2014-03-12T11:07:13","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T11:07:13","slug":"album-review-grand-magus-triumph-and-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-grand-magus-triumph-and-power\/","title":{"rendered":"GRAND MAGUS – Triumph And Power (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

GRAND MAGUS
Triumph And Power<\/strong><\/span>
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\nNuclear Blast (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 6.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Grand Magus, in case you\u2019re unaware, is a trio of musicians who\u2019ve been causing quite a buzz since their inception in 1996 (initially as Smack) when vocalist \/ guitarist JB Christoffersson \u2013 of Spiritual Beggars fame \u2013 and bassist Mats \u201cFox\u201d Skinner formed the band. Sticksman Ludwig Witt sits in the hot-seat for studio album number seven, after his commendable skin-thumping on 2012\u2019s The Hunt<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Grand Magus has been a prolific team, so it\u2019s great to see Triumph And Power<\/em> hitting the racks, the Swedes not content with leaving too much time between their platters. <\/p>\n

This time round they offer us ten tunes, beginning with \u2018On Hooves Of Gold\u2019, which begins with an ancient Nordic flavour as a storm brews in the distance over a reflective, simmering guitar before the percussion and riff crashes in. Immediately, I\u2019m almost drawn to Manowar-type hails and plights as the drum slams hard and JB booms out that distinctive narration with tales of mystery. <\/p>\n

\u2018Steel Versus Steel\u2019 is pure masculine metal, which flexes its muscles with those big riffs and mammoth drums as JB roars, \u201cDrifting away into dreams of despair\u201d<\/em>, evoking oaken images of old Manilla Road and other galloping metal. There\u2019s a sense of NWOBHM there too, with all fist-pumping majesty and warlord wails, but it\u2019s a track that at times lacks variety in its trudge. \u2018Fight\u2019, however, adds an extra dose of metallic beef to proceedings, and is again bolstered by a leather-clad slog. However you look at the first three tracks on Triumph And Power<\/em>, though, there\u2019s an element of the basic about it all, Grand Magus opting for a rather dour plod in their quest for pure metal Armageddon.<\/p>\n

Lyrically, this opus offers nothing remotely new or inspiring, except for those generic Manowar-type acts of bravado where we see our heroes thumping their chest from mountains up high. For all the fuss being made about this trio I\u2019m finding the riffs a tad mediocre, backed by equally gargantuan yet no frills percussion, which acts as a sturdy backbone to JB\u2019s manly bellows. It\u2019s amazing how many mocked Manowar all those years ago for their loin cloths and rages of war, and yet here we are, decades later, praising Grand Magus as if they are revolutionary. <\/p>\n

The title track is another basic yet effective plodder, JB\u2019s thunderous vocals yelling, \u201cWill of iron, Quiet soul, Empty words, Empty roles, Break their walls, Break their rules, Fiercely defiant, Damn the fools\u201d<\/em>, but through all its valour this is metal-by-numbers as \u2018Dominator\u2019 rumbles in with extra pace and mythical sauce. It\u2019s one of my favourite tracks on the record, really shaking the foundations with its beef. It\u2019s as cheesy as hell lyrically and vocally, but it does take on a mincing, lower tempo turn three minutes in. It\u2019s a shame it doesn\u2019t last, although the mood is fractured by a killer solo before we return back to the trudge. <\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the album offers another batch of half-decent bone-crackers, particularly the epic \u2018The Hammer Will Bite\u2019 with its gentle caress of an opening before lurching into another solid riff and spine-shattering piece of percussion. The more upbeat \u2018The Naked And The Dead\u2019 is equally satisfying as a no holds barred chuck of molten metal, but when this album reaches its silence I can\u2019t say I\u2019m blown away by the power of Grand Magus. The instrumentals are nice touches but again predictable fare and so I\u2019m left rather unfulfilled, as I have been with each of their offerings.<\/p>\n

While I can appreciate the bombastic nature of what Grand Magus do, there\u2019s nothing on show that captivates me, let alone hints at originality. Triumph And Power<\/em> is very much a straight down the line metal experience, but nothing more.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GRAND MAGUSTriumph And Power Nuclear Blast (2014)Rating: 6.5\/10 Grand Magus, in case you\u2019re unaware, is a trio of musicians who\u2019ve been causing quite a buzz since their inception in 1996 (initially as Smack) when vocalist \/ guitarist JB Christoffersson \u2013 of Spiritual Beggars fame \u2013 and bassist Mats \u201cFox\u201d Skinner formed the band. Sticksman Ludwig […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[322],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grand-magus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17958"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17977,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17958\/revisions\/17977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}