GRIM REAPER‘s third and last ’80s album “Rock You To Hell” is a melodic metal feast of hard rockin’ and heavy tunes, with hooks aplenty and non-stop catchy guitar riffs. The band brought in producer Max Norman this time around, and the results were much more accessible and melodic than their previous two offerings, still heavy.
In 1987, commercial metal, or “hair metal” as it was often called, was all the rage, and this had an effect on Grim Reaper, who injected catchier hooks into their brand of NWOBHM music.
Songs like “Night of the Vampire”, “Waysted Love”, the rousing title track ”Rock You to Hell” and the fist pumping, sing along anthem “Lust For Freedom”, all raised the bar to more commercial sounding waters, although the overall feel was still pretty heavy. Let’s say “Rock You To Hell” is hard rock with edge.
Over the years there has been poor sounding reissues, and “Rock You To Hell” deserved this clear, punchy remaster on SHM-CD pressing.
FWith thw advice of Max Norman, Steve Grimmett’s vocals were less over the top this time around, as he learned by this time to use his powerful lungs and reign his vocals instead of just proving how high he could scream. As always, Nick Bowcott provides plenty of tasty solos and meaty classic metal riffs, now with added hard rock groove.
Ｍａｒｑｕｅｅ ／ Ａｖａｌｏｎ ２５ｔｈ Ａｎｎｉｖｅｒｓａｒｙ
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01 – Rock You To Hell
02 – Night of The Vampire
03 – Lust For Freedom
04 – When Heaven Comes Down
05 – Suck It and See
06 – Rock Me ‘Till I Die
07 – You’ll Wish That You Were Never Born
08 – Waysted Love
09 – I Want More
Vocals – Stephen Grimmett
Guitar – Nick Bowcott
Bass – David Chief Wanklin
Drums – Mark Simon