Finland’s Admire The Grim, are a new melodic death metal band that leans heavily into their country’s fairly rich history of the genre. On their debut album, Resist they deliver a competent if by-the-numbers album of shredding, tightly played, melodeath that fans of Children of Bodom, Kalmah, and such should definitely appreciate.

Fronted by Katri Snellman who has the standard genre rasp, and compares favorably to Alyssa White Gluz (Arch Enemy) and others without the clean vocals, the players are all damn fine musicians, especially lead guitarist, Jani Loikkanen and other femme fatale shredder Sirja Ojaniemi. They focus heavily on noodly, bouncy, solo/lead-filled shredding with fairly standard, verse/chorus structures, and a clean production, but it’s all pretty enjoyable, if hardly groundbreaking.

“Cresent Moon” opens the album, and from there you know exactly what you are getting for the next 8 songs. We get Antti Hyyrynen from Finnish legends Stam1ina helping out with the thrashier “Resist”, the more mid-paced”Revolutions” and “Rivers to Surge”, and the high octane shredders “Hypocrite”, and “Mad Queen of the Second Sun”. The fun romp, “No Limits” ends the album on a high note, showing potential.

And while I don’t think these guys are going to approach the levels of the bands I mentioned in my opening paragraph, they clearly know their lane, stay in it, and deliver some solid Finnish melo-death in 2025.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments