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Led by the inspired guitar work of Nick Bowcott and the powerful lungs of Steve Grimmett, Grim Reaper's tough, raw, but melodically charged music embodied British heavy metal's most popular devices (and clichés) throughout the mid-'80s. The fact that Grim Reaper was capable of combining the above attributes so competently, yet truly excelled at none of them resulted in an exceedingly swift "rags to glory and back to rags" story, which somehow was as surprising as it was strangely fitting. Add to this a far from attractive visual aesthetic (i.e., they were four crusty English dudes with handlebar moustaches, bad hair, and even worse teeth) and it was clear Grim Reaper was doomed to enjoy a limited afterlife in the newly established MTV regime. Guitarist Nick Bowcott founded Grim Reaper in Droitwich, England, circa 1979, working with a number of different lineups before teaming up with singer Paul DeMercade, bassist Phil Matthew, and drummer Angel Jacques in time to record his song "The...