THE HELPLESS

According to LastFM, there are nine bands with the name Grendel:- 1) Grendel is a harsh ebm artist from Netherlands. 2) Grendel is a melodic death metal band from Finland. 3) Grendel is a Polish progressive rock band. 4) Grendel is a black metal band from Italy. 5) Grendel is a black metal band from the UK. 6) Grendel is a power metal band from Spain. 7) Grendel is a black metal band from Germany. 8) Grendel is a split-up folk metal band from Estonia. 9) Grendel is a hardcore/avant-garde metal band from France. Now, I think it is safe to say that eight of these acts are probably inspired by the monster of the same name from the saga 'Beowulf', and that the other took their inspiration from Marillion's song of the same name (which was about the monster ? and still their finest work). So can this Polish band bear comparison with Marillion, or any of the other prog greats?

I first played this album after listening to Glass Hammer ? which was a really bad idea as I found myself comparing the two and it really is chalk and cheese. It is not that this is a poor album, and I have found more to like in it the more I have played it, but rather that it is rather uninspiring and a pale washed out imitation of what prog can be like. That the guys can play, especially guitarist Sebastian Kowgier (who also provides vocals ? in English) is never in doubt, but is this something to which I will be returning to time and again? The answer to that is sadly no. These guys concentrate on providing atmospheric prog but miss the mark and come out as Marillion-lite, and there are many more Polish bands that I would rather listen to (SBB, Millenium, Satelite, Votum, Quidam, Collage, Riverside etc). www.lynxmusic.pl