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Gridlink > Orphan > Reviews
Gridlink - Orphan

Argh, make it stop... - 53%

robotniq, October 3rd, 2021

Gridlink expanded into a five-piece for their second record, “Orphan”. The core trio of Jon Chang, Takafumi Matsubara and Bryan Fajardo were joined by two veterans from the New Jersey metal/hardcore scene. This included guitarist Steve Procopio (ex-Human Remains, ex-Discordance Axis) and bassist Teddy Patterson (ex-Human Remains, ex-Burnt by the Sun). Yes, you read that correctly, Gridlink added a bassist on this record. This is a surprising decision because the lack of bass had worked well on their debut ("Amber Gray"), and even better on the Discordance Axis classic from the previous decade (“The Inalienable Dreamless”).

The addition of a bassist actually makes minimal difference to the music. The bass is present in the mix, but it isn’t a major (or even a noticeable) part of the band’s sound. The production on this record is much clearer and brasher than it was on "Amber Gray", and the bass gets lost in the melee. The addition of a second guitarist seems to make a bigger difference. This record expands on the metallic melodies of the debut, presumably because having two guitarists allows for more freedom in this regard. The upshot of this is a bunch of hyper-speed Norwegian and Swedish black metal melodies, filtered through grindcore explosiveness and condensed song-writing. Most of the songs have some kind of tremolo-picked riff, delivered at warp-speed over blast-beats. Play someone a snippet from this record and they would be forgiven for thinking it was Setherial or (mid-period) Marduk.

In all honesty, I hate this record. It sounds like the aural equivalent of a hyperactive toddler who has been let loose in a sweet shop. There is no ‘art’ in any of this. Gridlink were treading a high-wire with music this fast and extreme, but expose a weakness and the support structure will crumble. "Orphan" is not a pleasant experience, and its twelve minute run-time feels like an age. I'm fine with unpleasant music, but this is unpleasant in an uninteresting way. It is brash and noisy and horrible sounding. Each song has a stick-count at the beginning, which feels forced and removes any flow that the record would otherwise have had. Comparing this record to a masterpiece like "The Inalienable Dreamless" would be unfair, but it also falls short of the band's excellent "Amber Gray" debut. There will be people who will love "Orphan", but I am not among them.

Bewildering, Screeching, Maniacal Grindcore - 90%

FullMetalAttorney, April 21st, 2011

It will take me longer to write this review than it would take you to listen to Gridlink's Orphan. Yes, this is grindcore, and it's very good.

Gridlink is from New Jersey, and the album is their second full-length. I still hesitate to call a 12 minute album a full-length, but I guess that passes in grindcore circles. Despite the short runtime, it has as much aggression and riffage as a 40 minute thrash album. All the fat is trimmed, and each song is as short as it could possibly be. They do fall into the cliche of recording a less than 10 second "song" (thanks a lot, Napalm Death), and it might as well not even exist, but the rest of the album is thoroughly engaging and bewildering.

Unlike other grind bands, Gridlink goes full throttle the whole way through. There are no heavy breakdowns (none of the songs breaks the 1:30 mark), just screeching furious talons in your face. And it all does screech, in the most maniacal way possible. The riffs are excellent, and they stick around long enough to let you groove to them, but never long enough that you'll get used to them, ensuring that subsequent listens are just as bewildering. And it gets better with each listen.

The only track which breaks out of the formula for a moment is "Flatworlder", which sounds more like black metal at double-time than a typical grindcore track. But "Thorn Farmer" sticks out as a highlight among an album full of excellent songs.

The Verdict: I'm no grind expert, but even I can call this one early: best grind album of 2011.

originally written for http://fullmetalattorney.blogspot.com/