Review: Griever – Soul Searcher

Griever - Soul SearcherWe first encountered Griever as they supported The Dead XIII recently as they toured the UK. James saw them and was impressed, though the sound – especially the bass – let them down a bit on the night. Listening to some of the songs on their debut EP, I can understand how that could be an issue.

Griever seem to fall under the banner “metalcore” which is often enough to make me go “meh” and move on. There are so many bands in this genre now that they sound very samey. However, Griever – based on the evidence of the six tracks I have to hand – are anything but “meh”. Obviously put together with care, the songs showcase a wide variety of styles and techniques, with one common property amongst them: a huge amount of energy.

For a band with a musical style which often revolves around being angry and shouty, Griever manage a great amount of melody and this really sets them apart. If this came across live as well, then they’re onto a winner. Witness the piano-led section of “Virulence”, for instance, which leads to a huge build and heavy release at the end of the song. Or the similar haunting intro at the start of “She Is Death” which any band would be proud of.

It’s these pounding walls of noise which get a party going, but therein lay the problem at Shadow Sound, I think. That much bass is hard to control in the live environment, in fact it’s borderline destructive on a decent pair of speakers in the house! This isn’t a negative point towards this EP, though – hell, no. Get yourself some quality speakers/headphones and you’re laughing. As for Shadow Sound, don’t forget they’re having a party at the end of the month to pay for a venue refurb. I’m sure the metal walls are one of the things they’ll address, ready for Griever’s next appearance.

It’s the way that Griever blend this bass-led blast with harsh vocals, calm breathers and melodic segments that makes this EP so listenable. From the blast beats on “Liberate” to the vocal harmonies on “Malevolent” (probably the best song on here), this is a band that doesn’t really want to be pigeonholed. And neither they should be. Creativity is all about pushing and crossing boundaries, something that Griever have done very well indeed with Soul Searcher.

Soul Searcher is out on May 27th

Griever: facebook | twitter | youtube | bigcartel

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June 15, 2016 12:08 PM

[…] metal newcomers Griever have just released this new song from their EP Soul Searcher (which we rather liked). It’s out […]