Griever

Our Love is Different (2015)

Mike

Griever, after a few years of semi-activity, offer up their first proper full length in Our Love is Different on Vitriol Records. With members Alex and Corey also having been part of SoCal hardcore band Lewd Acts, Griever comes with a very real measure of character and musical credibility. What Our Love is Different offers the listener is a record that tows a very interesting musical line between malady and pain, and melody and emotion.

The record brings a variety of sounds together to basically form a cohesive full length that doesn’t jump out as pandering to one particular genre. Throughout the course of listening, I came to think that Griever’s sound can appeal to the fan of American Nightmare-esque hardcore, the fan of progressive metal bands a la Baroness, and even to the fan of more melodious stylings like La Dispute. Our Love is Different really does have that much going on. And the record doesn’t drown itself in its own variety either. Take the record’s third track, “The Tie that Grinds,” as a case in point. The song bounces seamlessly between heavy chugging riffs, spacey echoed guitar leads and melodic octave rhythms, all the while driving forward with a frenetic pace. And leading this frantic movement are the agonizingly charged vocals that move the listener through each song. The vocals have a very scratchy feel to them that really only intensify Griever’s sound overall. The title track, “Our Love is Different,” proves that the vocals, while raspy and somewhat confined, can rise up to the musicality of the other members of the band. The vocalist carries the song well on the title track, especially when he comes to the forefront during musical lulls. And he shows off some surprisingly strong range given the scratchiness of his voice. Further adding to the band’s dimensionality, I found myself thinking about Integrtiy’s Dwid and Shipwreck AD’s JD as commensurate comparisons vocally.

The record’s most experimental and exemplary track is “The Endless Wall.” Opening with a creepiness vocally that pushes into an equally unnerving guitar pattern, it is in this song that the listener feels Griever rising to their collective potential. The song has a very unusual melody that is more haunting than it is catchy and the decidedly sparse vocals provide a great setup to the song’s final crescendo. If “The Endless Wall” is any indication of where Griever is headed, we’re in for some great music from these boys.

Our Love is Different is a strong album any way you cut it. Griever provide their listeners with plenty of musical avenues to explore by tempting them along with a dark heavy sound that is surprisingly catchy. This is not a full length to be overlooked.