This is a bit of an old album (12 years!) but I don’t believe age really takes anything away from it. It’s fast passed, melodic, and dark all at once; it’s an uncommon mix, and I think it unfortunate that there hasn’t been much experimentation in it since.
Though there’ve been other melodic death metal bands who have drawn influences from darker metal, like Insomnium who draw from doom metal, there has been very little – if any - in the way of a pure fusion of black metal and melodeath. Think the dark feel of Amorphis and the melodic energy of In Flames, but in the dead of Norwegian winter, and you’ll get an idea of what to expect with Grievance.
Through the fusion of these genres, Grievance manage to make what is clearly melancholy music but do it with an energetic rhythm: You’ll be able to head bang along while feeling the pain in the music at the same time. The amazing thing is that it really, really works; and they somehow make it cool. Bordering on catchy, in fact!
Grievance seem to have found the right kind of level of heaviness for the record. The drums are the loudest instrument, and the guitar seems to me a little repressed, except for the occasional riff that is accentuated. There is a heavy emphasis on the orchestral synths that go with the territory of the genre. While I would personally have liked a little more guitar, it’s not a bad mix.
Because I got this record so long after it came out, it’s hard to find anything out about them. They were signed to reputable Norwegian label Hear Not Found, and worked with members of In Flames, but there is very little else to yield. I don’t think they had any real commercial success, (though gladly this is not usually the aim of black metal artists.) It’s a testament to the quality of their music, however, that it still sounds good and fresh 12 years after its release, and I’m sure I’ll still be listening to it another 12 years from now!
8/10
1. Origin in Vain
2. Angels Succumb
3. Atrocity Upon Deceptions
4. The Mask Of Sin
5. A Devil's Rhyme
6. Crabbing Path
7. The Phantom Novels
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