Hump Day Hot Ticket: Grim Reaper “Wings of Angels”

Band photo

Over the past several months since I last wrote about Grim Reaper, a lot has been going on with them. Shortly after my blog entry reviewing their last video (“Walking in the Shadows”), frontman Steve Grimmett was performing for fans in South America when he was besieged by pain in his leg so bad that he had to finish the show sitting down. Rushed to the hospital immediately thereafter, a terrible infection ultimately resulted in the loss of his leg, and an extended stay in Ecuador.

However, through all of this, Steve still presses on, and has stated more than once that this will not end his musical career. To prove his point, within weeks of first learning to get around on his prosthetic, Grim Reaper was playing festivals!

Forget these icons of sex, drugs and rock ’n roll, who gain praise for getting shit-faced and banging groupies—all those guys can do that—but those aren't my rock heroes. When it comes to metal bad-assery, as far as I'm concerned, Steve Grimmett leaves them all in the dust. I think it's pretty fuckin' metal to endure that kind of pain to finish a show, lose a limb, go through months of strenuous therapy, and get on a plane to rock out before thousands of fans almost as soon as you are able to bear weight on a prosthetic. If that doesn't win you the lifelong title of a bad-ass, I don't know what does.

To show that they have no signs of slowing down, Grim Reaper has a new lyric video: “Wings of Angels”. The video is very cinematic; with black-and-white animation reminiscent of a 1940s war movie, a fighter plane swoops into view. As the aircraft zooms through the air, we see patchwork fields and ominously dark cloudy skies, as the lyrics scroll across the screen. The plane spins and nose-dives towards the ground as Steve sings the lyric, “out of control in a death roll, until you're slamming into earth”. The flashes of the plane's machine guns blink on the screen as the unseen pilot chases his enemy through the air. The guitar solo starts in, and the pursuit becomes more intense. I probably shouldn't give away the ending, but let's just say a fiery conclusion is involved.

I should also note the little Easter egg: the plane—the hero of the video—is named “Amelia”, which is the name of Steve's wife, his real-life hero! Because behind every kick-ass metal dude is an equally tough metal chick, and Steve makes no secret that Amelia is his inspiration.

For more information on Grim Reaper, visit their official website.

Hump Day Hot Ticket: Grim Reaper “Walking in the Shadows”

Steve Grimmett's Grim Reaper

So today is not only Wednesday (meaning it's time for another Hump Day Hot Ticket), but today is also my birthday! Naturally, I would like to choose a very special band to commemorate my special day, so I am both pleased and honored to review this week the brand-new video from Grim Reaper, a band who has been going strong since the ’80s, and a band whose music I have enjoyed for a long time.

Some of you younger readers (“younger”, in this case, meaning anyone in their early ’30s or so) probably best know Grim Reaper (or have even heard of Grim Reaper at all) from being the punchline to many jokes on the early ’90s animated MTV show Beavis and Butt-Head, where the titular characters mercilessly teased the band for their ’80s fashion and seemingly outdated music videos. In spite of being self-proclaimed metalheads, clearly Beavis and Butt-Head were not savvy enough to recognize the band's talent; however, it is common knowledge that the show's creator, Mike Judge, is a huge Grim Reaper fan; thus, the reason they even got mentioned on the show in the first place.

When it comes to the recognition his band receives to this day from the show, Grim Reaper frontman Steve Grimmett has a great sense of humor about it; sharing clips from the classic show every now and then on his social media sites. No doubt he recognizes that those few minutes of parody was a far better promotional tool for the band than anything else, and people still continue to associate the show with the band. Anyone who cares to listen past the jokes and actually pay attention to the music can hear for themselves that Grim Reaper, despite proclamations to the contrary, does indeed kick ass. Steve's glass-shattering vocals is Grim Reaper's trademark; the one thing that instantly identifies the band to listeners, and over 30 years later, Steve's killer voice is still rocking us to Hell.

In fact, Grim Reaper is one of the many classic metal bands still making new music and still rocking as hard as ever. The band's new video for “Walking in the Shadows”—the title track of the band's latest album—is an anthemic, hard-rockin', feel-good song that makes you want to bang your head and turn the volume up as far as it can go. Vocally, Steve's still got the chops to rock your face off, and he does!

The video is pretty straightforward: the band jams in a dim, smoky room, along with some shots of Steve standing near a brick wall. There are also clips of a figure in a black, hooded cloak—perhaps an acolyte or warlock of some kind—perusing through a very old book, as glass potion bottles (one of them shaped like a skull) sit on a wooden table nearby, as he mixes up some sort of concoction. Of course, the band's namesake makes a brief appearance here too!

For more information on Grim Reaper, visit the band's official website. North American tour begins on October 6th in Las Vegas, NV. Walking in the Shadows now available in stores and online.

Special thanks to Steve Grimmett for allowing me to review this video. What an awesome birthday gift for me, to be able to feature a band I consider legendary, on my little blog!