Never has a band been more aptly named. In their 10 miserable years together as a band, Boston’s Grief continually delivered the most gut-wrenching, heavy slabs of sheer emotional destruction. Drug abuse, self-abuse, mental anguish, pity sex, anger, rage, hatred, hostility, seclusion … if it was agonizing, Grief was all about it. And, rather than taking some solipsistic route through emotional catharsis by strapping on an acoustic guitar and “sharing,” Grief ensured that their (small) audience would be one with their pain by putting forth barrages of sludgy, doom-metal that would cast a deathly pall over even the most glorious day. Finally imploding in early 2001 after a decade of non-success (wonder why?), the recent groundswell of interest in “stoner rock” has swept up the legend of Grief and made the band more popular now than they ever were while together. Of course, Grief was no Kyuss. There was never anything elegant or premeditated about a Grief song. They were just riff-heavy explorations of misery that wallowed in their own grinding anguish. This 11-track set compiles nonalbum material from Grief’s glory days. Though most of it comes from hard-to-find vinyl-only releases, the three unreleased tracks here — alternate versions of “Earthworm,” “Depression” (which clocks in at nearly 11 minutes) and “I Hate You” — are equally notable for their rarity.
This article appears in Jan 22-28, 2003.