Italy’s Grimness are a product of the year 2001, inspired to form by the sound Scandinavian Black Metal and old school Thrash Metal. After their 2005 debut album, the second effort ‘Trust in Decay’ is now released through Behemoth Productions.
The band has taken little effort in hiding the original influences of the union, combining Satyricon-esque Black Metal with touches of (mostly Gothenburg) Death/ Thrash Metal. The material on the album is pretty much evenly split up between more typical and mid-paced newer Satyricon tracks, and a rawer, higher paced style. Not to say that the band recorded a two-faced record, since the different “styles” blend in with each other well enough. Blending in is the key word when describing the album anyway, as despite the quality offered, there is very little to be found in terms of eye-catching and stand-out material. From beginning to end, it’s all a pleasant listen (with perhaps the midway highlight in ‘Proud To Be Damned’) but it never gets much further than that. There is nothing wrong with a well-produced album that is easy to listen to, but in terms of replay value those albums typically fall short. ‘Trust In Decay’ is certainly solid and enjoyable, but far from mandatory.
