Reviewed by David Pearce

Artist – Ground Zero
Album – It Grows On You
Label – After GREV records
Year – March 2012

1. Doomsday
2. It Grows On You
3. King Is Dead
4. Blossom Hill
5. Access Denied
6. Pirate Song
7. Saint Sinner
8. Stalker
9. Spirit

Vadim Shulman (bass) and Vadim Belov (guitar) founded band as a “hobby” in the fall of 2001. In the following months they were joined by Ekaterina (guitar) and Yaron (drums). At that moment of time band called itself Demise. Band members played for there own fun at rehearsal studio – a playlist consisted of bunch of covers: Anthrax, Iron Maiden, and Metallica. Few own songs were written as well (Access Denied, Saint Sinner, It grows on You). Ground Zero made their first successful stage performances in September 2003 and February 2004. Playlist included their new songs like “”Here the mourning comes”, “Spirit” and “King is dead”. Maxim Shapiro joined the band as a solo-guitar player for 2004-2005 period and participated in all stage performances.  With Pavel the band felt ready for first studio recording – 9 songs were recorded in 2008. Musical style can be described as “heavy-metal meets trash-metal” with low male vocals, catchy solos and late 80’s sound. Major lyrics themes are social – or pirates oriented. After recordings Pavel had to leave due to family reasons and other band’s members are very sad about this decision. At the current moment band consists of 3 members: Vadim Shulman (vocals, bass), Artem Apekishev (guitar, back vocals) and Mattias Nieto (drums). At March 2012 first demo-album “It grows on you” was released as an indie and band are looking for a production label. Band working on the material for there next release and try to participate in live performances as much as possible.

The album starts off with Doomsday that starts off with the drums & bass then comes in a good guitar riff, the vocals are harsh but go really well with the style. It has some really good solos in aswell. It Grows On You starts off with a good intro riff, the vocals are harsh but very good. The riffs that are in this song are really good and the solos are superb. At the end of song it goes really soft which I think is goes really well its has soft vocals and a great little clean guitar riff. King Is Dead starts off with a good guitar riff which instantly gets my head banging, the drums comes in and my head moves more violently, The vocals are harsh but they are perfect also the guitar riffs and solos are really good. In the middle of the song you have some really good pounding galloping drumbeats with the guitar then all of a sudden it slows down for a few bars then smash an outstanding solo comes flowing in just brilliant. At the end you have a smashing little riff. Blossom Hill starts off slow but then you are hit with another good heavy riff then it slows down again for the vocals to come in which are clean and soft. Then again that heavy riff comes in and the vocals get harsher then it slows down again. But the heavy riff continues near the end you have a bass solo then again another superb solo in comes in over top of the bass and the drum beat get faster then it slows down again for a few bars then picks up again to finish the song. Access Denied starts straight away with real heavy riff the vocals come in harsh as always together with another riff. The riffs in this song are just great together with the pounding drums and the excellent solos. Pirate Song starts off with a quirky drum beat together with another cool little riff which gets faster and faster then it hits us with a quality solo before the vocals comes in together with a pounding drum beat. Then we have another stunning little solo. This song lives up to its name it really does have a Pirate feel to it from the style of the riffs to the vocals. Near the end we have a     Spanish guitar feel riff which goes really well the same riff but with a more heavier feel to it but done superbly. Saint Sinner starts off with a clean guitar riff, which is followed by the vocals then, it explodes into life with again some stunning little riffs and solos which continues throughout the song. Stalker starts off with a slow clean riff sounds really good then the heavy riffs comes in over the top but with the slow riff carrying on then the heavy riff takes over and the vocals come in harsh as always. This song has some real powerful riffs in it together with the pounding drumbeat and again with some outstanding solos it tells the story of the Stalker perfectly. Spirit starts off with a quality clean guitar riff which I would say has a very melodic feel to feel it then a drum beat comes in followed by the bass the pace quickens up into a quick riff. The vocals come in with a faster pace to them, which goes well with the pace of the guitar riff. We are again hit with another stunning guitar solo. This song is full of great riffs, stunning solo and a drumbeat that will get your head banging.

Overall
This sort of heavy album is just what the doctor asked for it is full of outstanding riffs, stunning solos and powerful drumbeats together with the harsh vocals makes it an album that I could listen to over and over again. The vocals have a similar sound to that of the Lordi’s singer but are a little softer than his but together with the style that Ground Zero plays makes it perfect.

8/10

Members
Vadim Shulman – bass, lead-vocal
Artem Apekishev – guitars, backing-vocal
Matias Nieto – drums