Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Grip Inc. - Nemesis (1997)

Grip Inc. and I don’t get on. There, I said it. They are just one of those bands that I have never been able to connect the hype to the output they deliver. I cannot go as far as to say that all their stuff is bad, not by any means but I have always been completely underwhelmed by the late Gus Chambers and he is such an integral part of the band’s sound it is kind of hard to look past his performance.

At times on Nemesis he reminds me so much of a less capable Tom Araya I have to check I haven’t got shuffle on Spotify active and it is playing me post Seasons In The Abyss material from Slayer. This vocal challenge is by no means the overarching experience of Nemesis I want to share. However, the fact is that although the album has some real potential built on some solid ideas and robust performances from Lombardo (is he capable of anything other than brilliance?) this album happens to be one of the worst structured records I have heard in a long while.

Compositionally the record is all over the place which is not something I would always have a problem with but this variety in track-length and tempo is just really confusing and at times the album feels like a demo with a glut of ideas just thrown together. At times it feels like a groove metal record delivered like a Discharge album only without any authentic gnarl or grit behind it. Yes, Soryctha’s guitar work is admirable and (again) Lombardo is as clinical as you would expect him to be but it all just feels like a jam session that got recorded and released.

It is a collection of songs to my ears, not really an album so to speak. It lacks cohesion and structure which results in a disjointed and rough listening experience