EP Review: Iron Griffin – Iron Griffin (Gates of Hell Records)

Finnish metal band Iron Griffin, the side-project of Mausoleum Gate drummer Oskari Razanez, will release its self-titled debut EP on 12” mini-LP and cassette through Gates of Hell Records on November 17th 2017.

Razanez had this to say:

“Iron Griffin is a new project which started about a year ago as a one-man band mostly to improve myself at playing different instruments and writing music. Session vocals are done by my friend and spectacular singer Toni Pentikäinen. “The future of this project is living right now. I will continue working with new material and try to search for players to form a ‘real band,’ maybe. But this EP is a good start for me and the journey continues in one way or another.”

After a very 80’s sounding synthy intro, Iron Griffin takes off with the old school sounding metal sound of Message from Beyond. This as well as the songs that follow have a really ancient sound to them. The EP is a bit raw but considering that it’s going for an epic edge it works really well, helped by the very unique vocal work.

Its 18 minute run time flies by in a hail of catchy guitar melody, big bass hooks & epic ‘air grabbing’ vocals. The penultimate track, Journey to the Castle of the King is a particular highlight with its up-tempo beat.

Lord Inquisitor wraps things up with one last impressive melody driven effort. One that really lets the guitar & vocals take on the heavy lifting. Iron Griffin’s debut is a lot of fun & one that shows some serious promise.

Iron Griffin – Iron Griffin Full Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. Message from Beyond
3. Metal Conquest
4. Journey to the Castle of the King
5. Lord Inquisitor

You can pick up the EP digitally now over on Bandcamp & order the tape/mini-LP via Gates of Hell Records. Find out more about Iron Griffin via Facebook.