GRIP INC - In 40 Minutes

Welcome back to our In 40 Minutes series where we curate what we think are the best 40 minutes of music from an underrated band's career ... with headbangers and hard rockers in mind (ie. you won't be hearing many ballads!).

Basically, it's what we'd put on a single vinyl release (being limited to 20 minutes per side) if we were asked to put a Best Of record together to convince the uninitiated long haired miscreant that this band is worth checking out.

This episode is dedicated to underrated extreme metal unit ... Grip Inc. Perfectly suited for this series, here is a great band that was often derided as a "groove metal" unit. Bullshit - this was a progressive thrash metal unit in my mind. Listen to "Hostage To Heaven", "Guilty of Innocence", "War Between One", "Rusty Nail" and "Skin Trade" then tell me this isn't prime thrash metal. I'd go so far to say that these were superior versions of the form compared to what Slayer were generating at the time.

Ah, Slayer. Yes, here we have the ostracized Dave Lombardo on drums in the Grip Inc. ranks, his unmistakable drumming pounding crevices in the brain. Elsewhere, we have Gus Chambers (RIP) on the mic and Despair/Enemy of the Sun guitarist Waldemar Sorychta creating an impressive musical force.

What you'll find here is a mix of cyber thrash, along with progressive extreme metal, bountiful in musicianship and writing chops. Excellent stuff.

Don't be guilty of ignorance, embrace the violence!

Side 1
Power of Inner Strength (1995)
(0:00) Torque De Muerto
(1:24) Savage Seas (Retribution)
(4:38) Hostage To Heaven
(8:38) Guilty of Innocence
Nemesis (1997)
(12:17) Pathetic Liar
(15:23) War Between One

Side 2
(17:42) Rusty Nail
(21:09) Silent Stranger
Solidify (1999)
(24:05) Stresscase
Incorporated (2004)
(27:05) Skin Trade
(31:35) (Built To) Resist
(36:06) Curse (of the Cloth)