Band: RICTUS GRIN
Country: USA
Title: Burning a Cold Fire
Label: Independent
Year: 2016
Style: Heavy Doom Thrash Metal

Review:
I know Larry from Rictus Grin since 2005 when we planned and actually "executed" a 1+ week tour of our bands in Romania, which was, as far as I know, the first ever independent tour of a Romanian underground Extreme Metal band in my country, but most probably also the first tour of a US Thrash Metal band in Romania. Since then Rictus Grin kept on playing and releasing stuff even though Larry remained the only one from the original line-up, and here they are with the fifth full-length album, an 11 tracks effort clocking almost 40 minutes of playing time, offering a mix of a wide variety of sounds from everywhere Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Doom Metal, Thrash Metal and even a hint of Punk at times. Because of the slow to (mostly) mid-tempo rhythms and the oppressive bass lines, to me it sounds more like a Heavy Doom act at the moment, but even that's such a relative label to be honest. Being a trio at times, especially when Larry does solos, the compositions feel like they would need a second guitar, but this is and I think always was Rictus Grin's approach, an unpretentious, fun-infused take on Metal, simple, to the point and catchy. In comparison to their previous album to me it seems the production is less abrasive, less aggressive, directed more towards a darker atmosphere. Cool to listen to on vinyl, too (thanks Larry!); make sure you support this hard-working US act that's close to celebrating its first 2 decades of activity next year, there's so much passion, heart and soul invested in it you won't believe it!
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7.5/10

Contact:
rictusgrin.com