Temples Festival this year showed me many things that I didn’t know I enjoyed. Among them were dark beer, ear plugs and Grieved, a hardcore outfit hailing from Stockholm. I jumped out of the main building to drink, smoke and look cool (I failed at one out of three of these things) when I heard something pretty damn swell coming from the third stage. Hardcore with real feels? “Does such a thing exist?”, I thought to myself. Well, it does. Hostile, dark and bittersweet, these guys have a forward approach and attitude that I can’t get enough of. Over the jump to find out exactly why.
Recently signed to giants Prosthetic Records, Grieved are on the fast track to smashing the lights that their name is lit up by. Above is the first track from their forthcoming self titled release. “Fogbound” is a bit more straight up than the material on their debut release Samaritans, but by fuck does it hardcore like hardcore should. Thumping, beatdown grooves and vocals containing more malice than a bus full of football hooligans are treats for the ear here.
Taking a step back and looking at Samaritans, there are more post-hardcore sounds and riffs on display, but the snarl and bite of hardcore is never too far behind. Bands like this are dime a dozen at the moment and even the better ones should be watching over their shoulder because Grieved are out to cause some serious harm. Don’t expect to see them on third stages for much longer.
This type of driving, rough hardcore may not have originated in Scandinavia but that doesn’t stop this band from laying claim to a hardcore throne all of their own. This is music to get fucked up to, get jacked up to in the gym and is probably a pretty good shout for banging to as well. I’ve just seen a YouTube comment comparing them to early A Day To Remember. Eh, naw mate.
Preorders for Grieved are up and running so check ’em out.
-MM