Griffar
Of Witches And Celts
[Info-Black]


I wonder if these guys are fans of Hirilorn? A tale of the tape:

Hirilorn:
- Four man black metal band from France
- Play French Melodic Black Metal
- Tendency for long, epic song structures
- Lyrics are story-like narrative rather than traditional 'poetic' lyrics
- Full-length CD has four very long songs for a total of close to an hour of running time

Griffar:
- Four man black metal band from France
- Play French Melodic Black Metal
- Tendency for long, epic song structures
- Lyrics are story-like narrative rather than traditional 'poetic' lyrics
- Full-length CD has four very long songs for a total of close to an hour of running time

It's not quite that simple, of course, but the similarities stood out strongly as I listened to Griffar's "Of Witches and Celts". Musically, the two bands are quite different. Griffar tends toward a more conventionally BM riff structure: Shades of Darkthrone, Mayhem, and Black Legions-type fast-strumming and riffing are at the core of this, but their sense of dynamics and song structure make them able to use these building blocks to build monolithic songs. Leads aren't as ever-present as in Hirilorn, but are used sparsely and effectively at just the right times. Subject matter is fittingly epic, as it centers around grandiose tales of Christian persecution of native Celtic/'occult' beliefs. Overall, I'd say Griffar have a good idea of what they want to do and the skill to pull it off. Recommended for epic metal fans as well as French black metal aficionados.


© 2003 lord vic