GRIEF. Fuckin’ GRIEF. Not to harp on the past or “glory days”, or how things were “better back then”, but Bostonian doom crew GRIEF lived up to its name in sound and action, over the course of 4 albums never once buckling to trends or easy money. And, in a way, this steadfastness is what did them in.
Lo, doth 2022 bringeth the debut full-length from COME TO GRIEF, formed by two members from the early days. Alright, let’s strap in. ‘Our End Begins’ bludgeons right out the gate, curmudgeonly, a truncheon of what in any other style of music might be an “intro”. Think of this as the push-and-shove before the real fight starts, though, as ‘Life’s Curse’ swaggers into the circled-off fight pit, Jonathan Hebert’s vocal scathe of the FISTULA/RUE/ULTRALORD school. No harmonies, no sugary-sweet –(16)- moments here. Just howl, yowl, and scream. When the dual guitars kick in for the solo, courtesy Terrenza Savastano and Hebert, that’s your only relief.
More traditional in its arrangement, ‘Scum Like You’ calls to mind early TROUBLE or CANDLEMASS, but gnarlier, more inherently rough ‘n’ ragged both around the edges and through to its heart, while ‘Devastation Of Souls’ struts like the champ rooster in a cockfight, galloping to demise. ‘Bludgeon The Soul / Returning To The Void’ is a paean to the eons of miserable suffering inherently involved in this earthbound existence, our inevitable end.
Actually, come to think of it, COME TO GRIEF may not be for you. And that’s not some elitist crap either, not some “Oh, you’re not cool enough.” braggadocio talking. What it is is a warning that there’s no such thing as a cursory listen to When The World Dies. You’ve got to immerse yourself in it, and you know what? Maybe you’ll come out the other side realizing that somebody else has gone through what you have. And if that doesn’t make you feel a little less alone, then…
Review By: Lord Randall
COME TO GRIEF
When The World Dies
Translation Loss Records
3 / 6