Former GRIM REAPER/ LIONSHEART lead vocalist Steve Grimmett has combined forces with guitar extraordinaire Steve Stine and the rhythm section of drummer Dave Johnson and bassist Hat (SONS OF POSEIDON) for his latest project appropriately titled GRIMMSTINE.

Talk about a CD that has it all! GRIMMSTINE’s self-titled debut release perfectly blends elements of hard rock, heavy-metal, speed, progressive and even melodic AOR to produce a CD which is nothing less than a bountiful feast for the ears. With such a complex blend of musical styles and influences, there’s something for fans of just about any genre of hard-rock/ heavy metal and if you’re someone like me who can appreciate a little bit of everything, then you’ll be hard-pressed to find any song a disappointment.

Want heavy? With their almost “Trilogy” era Yngwie sound, tracks like “It’s Over,” “Take This Air,” and the powerful and relevant (though somewhat dated) “911” will definitely get your motor running. So will “To Catch A Killer” with its almost IRON MAIDEN-sounding underlying rhythm and “Straight As An Arrow.” With an intro sounding almost like that of “Tubular-Bells,” “Straight As An Arrow” bursts into a heavy, aggressive rocker combining some very progressive-sounding riffs with an overall feel of something off of QUEENSRYCHE’s first EP or “The Warning.”

Still like it heavy but maybe a little more melodic? “Got Nothing But Time” and “Afraid of the Dark” rip a page right out of that old-school “Breaking The Chains”/ “Tooth & Nail” DOKKEN book both in their sound and composition. And while we’re still in that DOKKEN-ish frame of mind, “Prisoner” also has hints of that DOKKEN flair only a little more modern with a bit of that “Dysfunctional” kind of hook to it. Then there’s “Supernatural” which can be compared to some of the edgier tracks off of Joe Lynn Turner’s last couple of releases.

Like it REALLY melodic and maybe even a bit AOR sounding? With its slower, more melodic rhythm, “This Don’t Look Like Love” reminds me a bit of late 80’s WHITESNAKE… as does the power-ballad “You’ll Never Know” which is hands down my favorite track on the release. As a matter of fact, the first time I popped this CD into my player, I found myself skipping back to this track over and over again. “You’ll Never Know” is just a perfect song and is one of those rare songs that is just so good it almost gives you chills. With its soothing, harmonic melody featuring some absolutely incredible acoustic guitar rhythms along with lots of tasty electric fills, I just can’t stop myself from listening to it and it will definitely be in heavy rotation on my CD player for quite some time.

Continuing on in that more “melodic” style, “You Give Me Love” is another tremendous power-ballad of almost “epic” proportion kinda reminding me of something on the lines of STEELHEART’s “I’ll Never Let You Go”… only without Michael Matijevic’s unmistakable falsetto! “’Til They Take My Wings” continues on in this fashion with a little bit more of a TYKETTO bite to it and then finally we come to “To Sing A Lullabye (Immy’s Song)” which sounds like… well… exactly as it’s titled, a lullabye!

GRIMMSTINE’s debut release is just an all around great CD and one of the best I’ve had the pleasure of listening to this year so far. It absolutely amazes me that these guys have not been picked up by one of the major European labels yet, but you can still find it readily available for purchase at CDUniverse.com or CDBaby.com. Get out there and show these guys some support and pick-up a copy. Trust me, this is one CD that does NOT disappoint!