About theGrimm Ear

Why does this site exist?

I’m into networking—not the "business cards and handshakes" kind, but the techy kind—and I like finding new ways to play around with it. I'm decent at it (or at least decent enough to get myself into weird little projects). After messing around with things like self-hosting a cloud server, I started wondering how tricky it actually is to build and maintain a website. So... here we are. This site is basically the result of me following that curiosity.

Why is the site called "theGrimm Ear"?

"theGrimm Ear" began back in high school, inspired by a three-part Noisey documentary on one-man metal bands—featuring Xasthur, Leviathan, and Striborg. After watching it, I figured: why not try starting a solo project myself? I wanted to combine my love for depressive suicidal black metal (DSBM) with fairytales, and originally came up with the name Narrate the Obvious. It was a nod to Xasthur’s 2004 album To Violate the Obvious, and the "narrate" part came from the way fairytales are traditionally told. That project never fully materialized, but the name stuck with me. I couldn’t find a good way to incorporate it into the site, so I kept thinking about how to fuse black metal and fairytales in a different way. Eventually, I landed on theGrimm Ear—a name that captures the grim tone of DSBM and gives a subtle nod to the Brothers Grimm. The stylized spelling? That’s just because it’s my site.

My background with music?

I have absolutely no professional—or even remotely credible—background in music. But I’ve been playing guitar since I was about 16, and I’ve been in and around the metal scene for just as long. I wouldn’t call myself just a metalhead though. I’ve got a real respect for music in general, and I like challenging myself to find something to appreciate in genres I don’t usually listen to. That said, I definitely have my favorites. So that’s what you’ll mostly see reviewed here: metal, DnB, and Vocaloid. It's not meant to be objective or definitive—just one guy’s take, driven by curiosity and love for sound.

How I review stuff?

If you stumbled onto this site expecting any kind of professionalism in the writing or scoring... perish the thought. It’s just me, one guy with opinions and no filter. I’ll absolutely call a band out if they drop something that sucks, and I’ll just as easily heap praise on an album I love—even if everyone else thinks it’s trash. I don’t really read reviews myself, so there’s not much structure to how I write mine. No formulas, no categories, just vibes. But they’re honest vibes, at least.

A note an AI

Full disclosure: I do use AI to help write these reviews. That said, it’s not doing the listening for me. I still sit down with the albums, sometimes multiple times, and let them sink in. The AI just helps me turn my incoherent ramblings into something readable—because at the end of the day, you’re here to read a review, not puzzle out my delusional takes. Think of it as the editor I never had… except it won’t yell at me for using “literally” too much.

A note to Artists & Rights Holders

All album artwork and media used belong to their respective rights holders and are included under the assumption of fair use for commentary and criticism. However, if you're an artist, label, or rights holder and you'd prefer not to be featured here, or you'd like a review or image taken down for any reason—please don’t hesitate to reach out. I'm more than happy to remove anything upon request. No drama necessary, just a quick email will do.

Ways to get in touch

If you want to get in touch, feel free to reach out: