Grief are a sludge/doom metal band formed in 1991 in Boston by Terry Sevastano and Pete Donovan.
Besides being the first band of the East Coast to play sludge metal, Grief were chiefly inspired by Saint Vitus and Black Sabbath, but ended up being much slower and darker than either of those two (somehow).
As a result, they are easily one of the heaviest and sludgiest of all of the sludge metal groups. Sadly the band called it quits in 2001 and reunited on and off. Their current status is unclear. Come to Grief and Torso are considered their landmark works.
Tropes that apply to Grief:
- Darker and Edgier: Compared to Eyehategod, The Melvins, Acid Bath (when they’re not throwing Death Metal into the mix) and Crowbar of all bands. Unlike the bands that (barely) preceded them in sludge metal, Grief are slower and much angrier than the original sludge groups and have none of the grooviness or Southern rock hints that these bands have, instead opting for a more hardcore aesthetic, upfront attitude, and much slower and nihilistic sound.
- Epic Rocking: Few songs are less than 5-6 minutes and many are over 8 minutes long. Epic is a bit of an misleading word though... "relentless dirge" would be a more accurate term. "Earthworm" is a standout example.
- Misanthrope Supreme: A lot of their lyrics are centered around this topic. "Earthworm", anyone?
- Sludge Metal: Sludge/doom actually; an early example, if not quite a Trope Codifier, for that genre, and they may be slower than most bands in either genre. Oddly enough, they served as an inspiration for the more hardcore oriented sludge bands such as Iron Monkey and Raging Speedhorn.
