GRANTIG
In times of blueprints and replica of more-or-less successful bands, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to discover truly innovative artists. Too many acts are satisfied with reproducing their idols’ music, forfeiting their own creativity just to garner a few minutes of fame in the wake of the latest trend. GRANTIG from Southern Germany have opted for a different path. These guys storm ahead with so much originality and courage that it sometimes takes your breath away. They’ve set an example with their second album, ”Medizin”, putting an end to the innovation crisis on the national music scene.
It’s been a long time since Germany has produced a band with such a uniquely independent style, marked by influences from the rock, metal, jazz and blues genres. How many newcomers have to live with being compared to other currently successful bands, which automatically moves them into the second or even third row. GRANTIG are above such comparisons. Although their 2008 debut, ”So muss es sein”, featured parallels with Pantera, Schweisser and Down, even critics had to admit that the band have found their own way.
And if this way isn’t to everybody’s taste, this polarization confirms GRANTIG’s aim: to breathe new life into the German metal scene. Big, bone-dry riffs which you’d be hard-put to find in the metalcore textbook mark their songs just as much as lyrics which speak from the depths of frontman Joni Schmid’s soul. GRANTIG don’t rely on backdoors and studio tricks, this band is for real. As Uncle Sally’s magazine enthused about GRANTIG’s debut: “the best German-language lyrics in a long time”.
”Medizin”sees the band follow the same direction. The quartet from Munich worked on the consistent continuation of their much-lauded first release for more than six months. Riffs were refined, lyrics written and rejected, arrangements polished until the basic structure of the current album, ”Medizin”, was finalised and the band’s tried-and-tested producer Jakob “Jdawg” Bernhart could start to record the tracks. The result is a middle-finger-turned-into-music, anything but oblinging, uncompromisingly straightforward, just like each one of the band members.
The band name says it all (grantig = grumpy, grouchy), the lyrics put their finger on subjects which are painful, torture the soul and keep hammering your head. “Warum geht es mir so dreckig”, an homage to the legendary seventies group, Ton, Steine, Scherben, lays heavy riffs on the listener’s aural tract and proves that cover versions can be so much more than your obligatory Iron Maiden and Metallica numbers.
GRANTIG have succeeded in reanimating German-language metal, proving their exceptional status in the world of metal and as musicians. ”Medizin” is likely to divide the scene again, and that’s precisely what GRANTIG are about. Obliging albums are for others to record.
"So Muss Es Sein" is the last GRANTIG album, released by Drakkar Records.
RELEASES
Grantig - Medizin
Tracklist:
01. Medizin
02. Dein Paradies
03. Warum Geht Es Mir So Dreckig
04. 11 Minuten
05. Guten Appetit
06. Du Bist Nicht Allein
07. Wie Fühlt Sich Das An
08. Nur Für Dich
09. 24 Jahre
10. Zwiespalt
11. Die Letzte Stadt
12. Auf Wiedersehen
Grantig - So Muss Es Sein
Tracklist:
01. Der König
02. Jeder Kann Es Schaffen
03. So Muss Es Sein
04. Reflexion
05. Der Fremde
06. Sodom Und Gomorrha
07. Zwischenspiel
08. Wir Haben Nichts Dazu Gelernt
09. Leichtsinn
10. Schutt Und Asche
11. Totentanz
12. Immer Wieder
MULTIMEDIA
