Grief - Complete CD Discography (1992-2005, 7CD)

Grief was founded in 1991 by Disrupt guitarist Terry Savastano and drummer Randy Odierno (who later switched to bass and later again left to join Bane of Existence). They broke up in 2001 mainly due to drummer problems - something that was an ongoing problem for the band from the start. They also cited what they called a "hostile environment for doom metal bands". They reunited briefly in July 2005 to play a cluster of reunion shows.

Pure filth fueled by mysanthropy and inner segregation has been immortalized on GRIEF's "dismal", a record recognized as a benchmark in extreme music. HEAVY riffs and damaged, painful shrieks spew thoughts of alienation and self-hatred; primitive drums and bass complement the despodent ambience. Truely a genre-defining release, available for the first time since it's original release in 1992. Featuring the original artwork, remastered for both vinyl and CD by Jack Control at ENORMOUS DOOR MASTERING and pressed on 45 rpm 12" for maximum results.
CD includes 2 bonus tracks originally appearing on the split 7" with DYSTOPIA.

Tracklist :

1. Rhinoceros - 7:23
2. Isolation - 3:52
3. Coma - 9:17
4. Shoot Me… (I'm Already Dead) - 1:10
5. Lifeless (Bonus Track) - 2:54
6. Fucked Upstairs (Bonus Track) - 4:20
7. Depression - 4:20
8. Virus - 2:53
9. Fleshpress - 4:05
10. The Drone - 2:51


• Jeff - Vocals
• Jay - Guitars
• Terry - Guitars
• Randy - Bass
• Pete - Drums

Tracks 1-4 from Dismal 12" EP
Tracks 5-6 from Grief/Dystopia 7" Split EP
Tracks 7-8 from Depression 12" EP

All tracks recorded at Headroom Studio, Boston, Massachusetts.
Produced and engineered by Bill T. Miller & Grief.
Remastered by Jack Control at Enormous Door Mastering
Licensed by Grievance Records

Come to Grief opens with a chaotic few seconds of feedback, before the track ‘Earthworm’ thrusts you into the aggressive riffing that is the spine of this album. The heaviness of Grief’s music is astounding; the controlled aggression that comes with every mind crushing riff is the crux of Come to Grief. Sludge doom from Boston, Grief have been around for the most part of the last two decades, albeit a five year hiatus beginning in 2001. Come to Grief is their second full length, and is an album of various metaphors; a thousand hammers smashing in your face, a multiple car pileup on your face, or simply having the shit beaten out of you for not listening to this album. The opening feedback gives a sign of things to come with Come to Grief: this is sludge at its finest. Dirty, punishing riffs, smothered in a very tolerable fuzziness that, rather than washing out the sound, gives it a delectable gritty edge. However, rather than simply delivering a plethora of riffs, Grief add to the diversity with occasional ‘wheeyous’ and similarly needless hooks to the guitar lines. Moments like the last minute of ‘World of Hurt’ are just fantastic in topping off the rough excess of face hammering; a heightened tempo and a sneer of belligerence in what is an infectiously groovy riff closes the track sublimely, and such scornfully awesome moments are abundant throughout the album’s hour length. Not diverging far from the aforementioned sound, the vocals are as coarse and granular as shredded wheat. Whether they’re dirty screams or vomited gutturals, such an intense and passionate performance brings the hatred filled lyrics to life. Lines like ‘Only one thing comes to mind / When I look into your eyes / I think of all those times / All I did was despise you / I hate you’ are so fervently hostile and antagonistic that you can’t help feeling like you want to go and beat the shit out of some pussy Cradle of Filth fans. The lyrical matter of the album does not stray far from abhorrence, spite and hatred; track titles such as ‘World of Hurt’, ‘I Hate You’ and ‘Fed Up’ pretty much speak for themselves. Come to Grief rules. If you haven’t heard it, do it now. The album ends with the line ‘I’ll screw you all in the end’, and yes, he was talking about you.

Tracklist :

1. Earthworm - 9:51
2. Hate Grows Stronger - 8:23
3. World Of Hurt - 5:02
4. I Hate You - 6:11
5. Ruined - 4:26
6. Fed Up - 6:29
7. Stricken - 6:00
8. Come To Grief - 8:11
9. Bury The Dead (Bonus Track) - 5:00


• Jeff Hayward - Guitars, vocals
• Terry Savastano - Guitars
• Randy Odierno - Bass
• Rick Johnson - Drums

Engineered and produced by Bill T. Miller
Recorded August 6-7 and 19-21 1994 at the Lanes, Allston, Mass.
Digital editing at Platinum Sound, Jamaica Plain, Mass. Aug. 26 1994.

I have mixed feelings about doom metal, feelings that I expained in a semi-recent post about extinct Bay Area doomsters Noothgrush. Some of it is good, like the aforementioned Noothgrush or the whale-heavy Ahab – But for every decent doom band there are a dozen shitty ones, doing nothing but playing standard rock riffs over boring beats at a quarter the speed. Grief is the opposite of these bands. Grief were from Boston, and were the first "real" doom band I ever heard. They are still my favorite. I (kinda) wrote up their 1994 album Come To Grief here, but in my opinion Miserably Ever After is their finest work. It's a sludgy, hateful, pummeling hour of pure sonic catharsis. Give it to your children.

Tracklist :

1. One Of Those Days - 3:23
2. Low Life - 7:24
3. Nuisance - 5:54
4. Angry Man - 4:53
5. Miserably Ever After - 9:23
6. Straight Edge Closed Mind - 6:20
7. Why Should I Care - 6:38
8. I Hate The Human Race - 2:30
9. Trust - 10:55


• Jeff Hayward - guitar, lead Vocals
• John Heidenrich - guitar, vocals
• Eric C. Harrison - bass, b/up Vocals
• Ray McCaffrey - drums

Recorded Spring 1996 at Straight Jacket Studios
Produced by Bill T. Miller and Grief.
Basic Trax Assistant Engineer: Rico Petrillo.

In spite of persistent rumors that they are calling it quits, GRIEF are back with another full length masterpiece of slowcore / doomsludge. You'll be scooping tar out of your speakers for weeks after listening to this puppy. On "Torso" GRIEF have taken the the best elements of their two previous full length releases and combined them. They have the sharper focus and better song writing found on their last album but have recaptured the raw and plodding forcefulness of their debut. As one of the premiere bands in their genre there are very high expectations every time they set foot in the studio and on this record, as always, they deliver. Heavier than most metal, more extreme than most hardcore, and slower than most baseball games…. what more could you ask for?

Tracklist :

1. I Hate Lucy - 7:26
2. Polluted - 9:04
3. Amorphous - 12:03
4. Life Can Be… - 8:22
5. To Serve & Neglect - 10:28
6. Beyond Waste - 7:43
7. Tar - 8:13


• Jeff Hayward - guitars, vocals
• Eric Harrison - bass, vocals
• Randy Odierno - drums
• Terry Savastano - guitars

Co-Produced by Grief and BTM.
Recroded at October 1997
Engineered by Bill T. Miller at Supersonic Studios.

It is with great anticipation that I await each and every release by GRIEF; one of the few bands to have successfully tapped into the cosmic aura left by the mighty BLACK SABBATH. An aura that surrounds and permeates all extreme music but somehow still remains elusive to most bands plying the trade. On this new CD the band once again proves that sludge is truly a pliable genre that can be molded and tweaked into countless variations. It never ceases to amaze me that although every GRIEF album is built upon the same foundation and has the same overall vibe they always introduce unique elements that result in new and diverse dynamics. One of the strongest of those dynamics on "…And Man Will Become The Hunted" is the pagan celebration of nature over mankind. Everything from CD's title to the Dionysus worship in the artwork to the loathing filled lyrics to the nature samples in the music is in alignment with the misanthropic world view. Although nothing captures the theme quite as effectively as the CDs outro which shows the band stepping away from their rugged metal and playing an acoustic number complete with very non-GRIEF like instruments including congo drums, a piano, and a rainstick. Without question "…And Man Will Become The Hunted" is a worthy edition to the GRIEF opus, which is destined to be legendary.

Tracklist :

1. Predator - 6:29
2. I Won't Come Back - 5:26
3. If The World Was Flat - 6:16
4. Ostrich - 4:24
5. Hurricane Jello - 7:36
6. Down In The Dumps Again - 3:42
7. No Escape - 4:13
8. When Rotten Ideas Break - 12:27


• Jeff Hayward - vocals & guitar
• Terry Savastano - guitar
• Eric Harrison - bass, vocals
• Chuck Conlon - drums

Produced by Grief and Bill T. Miller
Recroded by Bill T. Miller at Supersonic Studios, July 1999

This band would have been proud to wear the title of "Slowest Band In The World". This was my first taste of Grief. I had been hearing about them for years, but never got around to getting one of their albums. Although I had heard and read that their music was "utterly depressing", "heavy beyond words", and "slooooowww", I was not prepared for the impact this music left on me. 67 minutes of pure DOOM/death Metal. It was as if every last bit of well-being, hope, and contentment was drained completely, and replaced by the bitterest, saddest, most hopeless feelings…. and I loved it! They say it takes a sad song to make a sad person feel better. Very true, however Grief really does push the depression quite far. Musically you can say they sound like eyehategod, Paramaecium, and early Morgion combined and HEAVILY sedated. There aren't any flutes, violins, operatic vocals, Shakespearean lyrics or keyboards however. The sound is very raw and unbelievably heavy. Just pure, raw, unadorned DOOM. A big influence on newer bands like Burning Witch and Khanate. Songs move slower than snails, but there are brief faster, more uptempo Celtic Frost/Black Sabbath-ish segments here and there that take you by suprise. Check this out if you want your Metal slow and depressing.

Tracklist :

1. Lifeless (From 7" Split with Dystopia, 1993) - 2:58
2. Fucked Upstairs (From 7" Split with Dystopia, 1993) - 4:24
3. Falling Apart (From 7" Split with 13, 1993) - 6:43
4. Earthworm (Remixed, from "Come To Grief" CD, 1994) - 8:21
5. Depression (Unreleased "Suicide Version")- 9:03
6. I Hate You (From "Come To Grief" CD/Compilation "World Of Hurt", 1994) - 5:12
7. Pessimiser (From 7" Split with 16, 1995) - 5:49
8. Green Vegetable Matter (From 10" Split with Soilent Green, 1995) - 8:38
9. No Choice (From 7" Split with Suppression, 1995) - 4:23
10. My Dilemma (From 7" Split with Corrupted, 1996) - 6:18
11. Bored (From 10" Split With 16, 1997) - 6:04


• Jeff Hayward - Vocals, Guitar (tracks: 6, 10, 11)
• Jay Stiles - Guitar (tracks: 1 to 5)
• Steve Nelson - Guitar (tracks: 7 to 9)
• Eric Harrison - Bass (tracks: 11)
• Randy Odierno - Bass (tracks: 1 to 10)
• Peter Donovan - Drums (tracks: 1 to 5)
• Randy Odierno - Drums (tracks: 6, 11)
• Rick Johnson - Drums (tracks: 7 to 10)

This release is subtitled "Unreleased and Out-Of-Print Material".
All tracks recorded at Headroom Studios 1992-1996, except track 11, which was recorded at Supersonic Studios, October 1997.
Track 4 and 5 remixed September 2002.
Track 1 also appeared as bonus track on the German CD release of the album "Dismal" on Common Cause Records.

Bostons heaviest band ever spawned, Grief, were criminally underrated during their existence in the Nineties, it’s extreme redemption that now the band has reformed to destroy once again! Their undeniable influence can be heard in current groups like Sunn 0))), Eyehategod, Unearthly Trance, Khanate, Electric Wizard etc. This limited edtion CD effectively captures Grief at their best - recorded in their hometown of Boston in 2005 with a return to the eve of behemoth, slower than thou riffing and mammoth doom metal from one of the pioneers of the genre.

Tracklist :

1. One Of Those Days - 4:05
2. Earthworm - 9:50
3. World Of Hurt - 5:21
4. I Hate The Human Race - 3:17
5. Polluted - 9:19
6. Ruined - 4:18
7. Angry Man - 4:37


• John Heidenrich - guitar, backing vocal
• Jeff Hayward - vocals & guitar
• Eric Harrison - bass
• Rich Johnson - drums

Limited Edition, 2000 copy only
All Songs by Grief, except "Angry Man", written by SAINT VITUS
Recorded Live in Boston 2005
Artwork by Eric C.Harrison