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GRYNCORE: Vassar Heavies Are Full of Surprises By Randy Chandler I first became aware of Vassar's Grynkore through their appearances at Wiseguys. I'd heard some positive reports about the band and looked forward to watching their progress in the local original scene. When I heard they'd recently won the Battle of the Bands at Detroit's legendary Harpos, my curiosity was piqued. For a young band from (excuse the expression) 'the middle of nowhere' to triumph over 20-odd other promising upstarts from all over the region after an incredibly brief period in the scene intrigued me. Popping the CD into the stereo on my way home one evening, I was pleasantly surprised what came pouring out of the speakers. In all honesty, for better or worse, this area's original scene often lends itself well to judging books by their covers - with a name like Grynkore, the image immediately brought to my mind had a lot to do with D.O.D. Death Metal pedals and what I have come to refer to as 'cookie monster' vocals. And although I wasn't as far off-base in my pre-judgement as I was with, say, Fudge Gun (boy, was I wrong about them!) Grynkore displayed several qualities that set them apart from like-minded peers. First and foremost is the songwriting. This band has taken a more rhythmic approach, which makes their music groove accessibly while still retaining its ton-of-bricks heaviness. This is largely due to the fact that lead vocalist Aaron Lenk is actually the group's drummer! Not content to merely eke out a basic beat while handling the vocals, Lenk continuously pushes the rhythmic envelope, taking the music into twisted territory that never seems at odds with the song's underlying theme - all while delivering a vocal performance full of conviction and rage. "I don't know how I even do it," confesses Lenk. "I just started doing it because we could never find a singer and I figured somebody needs to make some noise!" The other big part of the songwriting equation is guitarist Todd Zempel, whose crushing riffs and symbolic lyrics impart an old-school Metallica/Tool quality to the proceedings. "We just try to write music that we would want to hear on the radio," offers Lenk. "We come from a diverse array of influences and for a 'heavy' band, we want to appeal to a wider range of people." That 'wide-range appeal' manifested itself in Grynkore's victory at Harpo's recent Battle of the Bands, the largest local-music event the legendary Detroit rock house has had to date, showcasing over 20 bands in two consecutive nights. "We were really surprised to win," observes Lenk. "There were bands from Ohio and all over Michigan and most of them were really good," Their moment of glory, however, left them feeling somewhat less than triumphant. "The event went on for two nights," says Lenk. "We played the first night and didn't perform the second night. At the end of the second night they announced the winner, so here we are getting booed by all the second night bands and their friends. The manager hands us $2,500 in cash and said, 'Good luck getting out of here alive!' It could have gotten real ugly." Grynkore considers itself to be in its musical infancy - its members are only 20 years old. Lenk and Zempel have been playing together since they were thirteen, and bassist Josh Larkin has been with them for five years. "We all grew up together - me, Todd, Josh and our manager Aaron Hix - so we knew each other long before we ever formed the band. We've got history together as people and that makes a difference. These guys are my best friends." Pondering his band's future, Lenk is understandably excited. "The prize for the Harpo's thing, along with the $2,500 in cash, was free studio time at Live Wire in Detroit and airplay on 'the RIFF' (Detroit's legendary WRIF.FM). We want to make a solid demo and get it played. Hopefully people will like it. I guess you never know until you try!"
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