Grift – Fyra Elegier
With members in tow from the bands Flagellant, Orcivus and Arfsynd, Grift is another project arising from Swedish soil striving to stir the emotive pulse of the black metal continuum with mid-paced and dreary dissonance.
Conceptually rooted in the poetic works of Johannes Edfelt, Pär Lagerkvist & Dan Andersson (don’t worry, I haven’t heard of them either), Grift is a moody beast centering on a slow tempos where a ragged bass tone follows the chord progressions as on “Den Fangne”, for the guitar to subtly range between yawning power and more traditionally noisy chords built on angry melody. The delivery lacks surprise and dynamics, but it is the familiarity of that Scandinavian sound that keeps me listening and interested when I find myself wishing to hear a bit of crusty woodland speed for a break from the misery. The 3rd and final track on this MCD, Bortgang, is a droning success with it’s mopey plod and equally mournful riff harmony over the din. The lack of mid-ranged screams on this track in favor of a brief spoken word is a nice change of pace, leaving the brunt of it to be instrumental for more of a musical impact. It is minor details like this that I think would benefit Grift when they decide to iron out a full-length album. Rather than add more elements to achieve interest/depth, stripping away already established layers to accentuate the power in music this lumbering and often a bit too cut-n-dried may have more worth in the long run.
As it stands, Fyra Elegier is an enjoyable MCD worth of material from this depressed duo. Could I endure 40 minutes of a bass note falling on every drawn out beat with lyrics cascading onto every predictable downstroke in the music? Not without a bit more inventiveness in Grift’s overall songwriting approach. But this is the exciting thing about hearing a new band starting out… how will they develop, if at all? Their sound is in place, now we shall see where it goes from here. -Marty
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