Traditional American metal band with some thrash leanings.
Mike Jastremski of Heathen fame played
guitar for this band.
Griffin - Flight of the Griffin (Old Metal Records) 1984
1 "Hawk the Slayer"
(4:20)
2. "Heavy Metal Attack" (5:05)
3. "Submission" (4:13)
4. "Creeper" (4:01)
5. "Flight of the Griffin" (6:07)
6. "Fire in the Sky" (4:45)
7. "Hell Runneth Over" (3:37)
8. "Judgment Day" (4:22)
9. "Traveling in Time" (5:19)
BONUS TRACKS
10 "Creeper" [demo version] (3:36)
11. "Hawk the Slayer" [demo version] (3:43)
12. "Name of the Dance" [demo] (5:04)
Griffin has it's roots in power metal but they also have aspects of early speed metal and thrash with many technical leanings; frequent time and tempo changes, melodic vocals and excellent songwriting. As far as I know this album was only released in Europe until Old Metal reissued (bootlegged?) the disc in the U.S. The reissue unfortunately has very poor graphics and features only a single page insert with no liner notes whatsoever. The reissue does feature three bonus demo tracks, although the song quality on these demo tracks are poor at best. The sound quality on the original album tracks are good although the mastering could have been a little louder.
Griffin - Protectors of the Lair (Old Metal Records) 1986
1. "Eulogy of Sorrow/Awakening"
(2:03)
2. "Hunger" (4:13)
3. "Infinite Voyage" (5:21)
4. "Cursed be the Deceiver" (4:30)
5. "Tame the Lion" (6:03)
6. "Entity/Watching from the Sky" (4:28)
7. "Sanctuary" (5:20)
8. "Truth to the Cross" (4:21)
9. "Poseidon Society" (7:09)
10. "Eulogy of Sorrow (Reprise)" (1:25)
Album number two for Griffin continues in the traditional metal of the first album with metal clichés abounding. Once again there are plenty of speedy riffs, skillful solos, and clean, powerful vocals. I picked up this disc from Molten Metal and according to their web site, this reissue has better sound and packaging than the original release. Hmmm, that doesn't say much for the original release. The sound on 'Protectors' isn't bad, but isn't top quality either. Of course this was the mid-eighties when metal was less concerned with slick production values and more concerned with attitude. The packaging on this disc isn't much to speak of, although the lyrics are included this time around. There is absolutely no copyright information or any record company information, but the packaging and CD printing looks like something Old Metal Records might have put out. I assume it was released this way because they could not secure the rights to the album, thus it was released illegally. (This is only an assumption.) Anyhow, regardless of who put it out, I am glad it is finally available on CD. I assume this is a very limited pressing. Get it while you can.