Griffin (USA) - Flight of the Griffin (1984)^{Release ID: 8233}

Occasionally we come across a band that take the basic elements of a metal subgenre & push them to the limit as far as raw extremity goes & I'm pleased to be able to inform you that we’re about to take a look at one of those now in San Francisco five-piece heavy metallers Griffin & their debut studio album “Flight Of The Griffin”. The band first formed three years earlier in 1981 & released an album-length demo tape in 1983 before being picked up by Mike Varney’s Shrapnel Records. It was an interesting signing for Mike as although Griffin are certainly very big on the guitar solos, their execution possessed nowhere near the level of cleanliness that you’d generally expect from a Shrapnel release. But don't think of that as a criticism. This is some vicious US power metal with everything turned up to eleven & the electricity that Griffin exudes is far more important than virtuosity so there’s a lot to like about the performances here.

The rhythm section has an enormous amount of energy about it with a particularly pumping loud bass guitar sound being the driving force behind the song-writing. The rhythm guitars are a bit low in the mix but they have a ball-tearing tone that really accentuates the riffs & the wealth of Maiden-esque guitar harmonies are a real strength. It’s funny that the lead work is often much louder than the rhythm guitars but it seems to work with most of this material being presented as a wall of noise. The twin guitar attack has an absolute field day with the tracklisting offering more in the way of shredding metal guitar solos than most people can keep up with. Mike Jastremski & Rick Cooper make up for a general lack of subtlety & nuance with unbridled intensity & that pretty much sums up the atmosphere of “Flight Of The Griffin”. This is the very definition of US power metal for mine & it reminds me of the way that Dark Angel’s “Darkness Descends” or Kreator’s “Pleasure To Kill” took thrash metal to its rawest level a couple of years later. It’s aggressive, driving, pure heavy metal with a thrashiness to the riffs that never forgets to maintain a strong sense of melody. 

But wait… to top it off we’ve got a real wildcard of a vocalist in front man William Roderick McKay whose delivery is about as violent as they come in American power metal. Imagine Bruce Dickinson has had an extremely bad day… for seven straight days & with very little sleep… & he’s just dropped his bag & it’s burst open & his clothes have gone all over the tarmac & blown into the propellers of other aircraft in the vicinity. I’d imagine that William’s vocals are a good representation of the sound that you can expect hear coming out of Bruce’s mouth at that time. He’s extremely raw & unpolished & is often pretty pitchy to be honest but there can be no denying his charisma & enthusiasm. In fact, he can be both a positive & a negative as far as Griffin’s commercial potential goes. On the one hand he’s clearly the main focal point of the band & keeps the listener engaged at all times. But on the other hand he’s possibly the thing that’s held Griffin back from having more appeal than they did because his skill sets were certainly pretty limited. Personally, I really enjoy William’s performance here. His delivery is substantially ballsier than most of his competition could muster & this element acts as a differentiator that helps to give Griffin a bit more of an identity in a newly competitive market.

Griffin’s influences aren’t too hard to pick up. It’s Maiden & Priest all the way but in a less controlled & ultimately more extreme format. The raw production actually enhances the music & I think a band like Armored Saint would have been much happier with this sort of sound than the one they ended up with on 1984's “March Of The Saint” album. "Flight Of The Griffin" is a bit of an undiscovered gem for mine.