Here’s a real “under the radar” one for us from New Wave of British Heavy Metal days. Do you remember a band called Medusa? Perhaps you don’t – I didn’t.
However the Sonic Age Records email of a few days ago mentioned it and my interest piqued when I saw Steve Grimmett’s name on the cover.
On digging a bit deeper, discovered that Medusa was a short-lived band from circa 1978 which had a (then) sixteen year old Steve Grimmett on vocals.
Yes – the same Steve Grimmett who would go on to front up the magnificent Grim Reaper on such NWOBHM classics such as See You In Hell.
Medusa didn’t get beyond recording a few demos as far as I can discover.
Seems that they were released as Clash of the Titans a couple of decades or so ago and no longer available – well, until now with this version of Clash of the Titans looking like a re-release by Hellven Classics Records.
The demos accompanied by the addition of some live recordings. Musically it’s full on, fast and heavy as you may expect. Big cutting riffs, solos to match and Grimmett putting it all in energetically as he always did.
For an example, here’s Turn to Stone:
Medusa also could stretch out a bit as evidenced by the eight minute or so brooding, atmospheric mini-epic of Conquest of the Skies.
Medusa went no further and of course Grimmett would progress to Grim Reaper for their trio of NWOBHM classic albums in the 1980s.
Reaper would reform and released a fine album as Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper in 2019 called At the Gates.
Unfortunately Steve fell victim to a nasty infection in 2017 which resulted in him losing his right leg below the knee and he sadly died in 2022 aged just 62.
The Medusa recordings an interesting find as a little bit of New Wave of British Heavy Metal history.
Got my copy from Sonic Age Records:
https://www.sonicagerecords.com/_shop/medusa-clash-of-the-titans-cd
Here’s the link to the label:
https://www.hellvenrecords.com/hellven-classics
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