What a nice surprise this EP was! Yes I am referring to “Orphic Gold Leaves” by Germany’s GRENDEL’S SYSTER. OK. “It was a surprise, but why, what can we listen in there?”. You may ask.
Well the band actually combines very beautifully their Epic Metal references, with quite a lot of Classic Heavy Metal stuff, some NWOBHM touches and a magical folk vibe! Their songs are blessed with beautiful -female- vocal melodies plus inspired and very well performed guitar themes -both acoustic and electric-.
A fairy-tale / epic vibe is covering each and every song of this release. And I must very seriously point that GRENDEL’S SYSTER is one of those bands that are doing it perfectly right. Thanks to their melancholic melodies, thanks to this mystical touch on their music and their into the point song writing, I did not catch myself skipping the music, instead, I found myself pressing the play button again and again. “Apocatastasis” and “Night Seas Journey” are already two favorite tunes of mine!
They actually present three songs, each one in two versions: a version with English and a version with German lyrics. So we got six recordings in totals.
I must also refer to the great artwork by Virginia Francis Sterett. It fits extremely well to the band’s concept.
Well if you are into for some Epic and mystical stuff, go for this release with NO second thought. The EP is available on CD from the band and on tape from Hoove Child Records.