Album Review: Great Grief – Love, Lust, and Greed

Great Grief
Love, Lust, and Greed
No Sleep Records
★★★★

Refused is to Sweden as Great Grief is to Iceland. The reference is not pointing to the progressive and highly experimental Refused, but somewhere between Everlasting-era Refused and Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent-era Refused.

Great Grief’s “Escaping Reykjavik” is that abrasive apocalyptic next level hardcore that springboards off of its Scandinavian hardcore foundation. What Great Grief does is catapult themselves into 4k standards and technique. The experience is powerful.

They have come a long way from the bedroom recording of Ascending/Descending in 2014. On Love, Lust, and Greed the band grew up and moved out of the house to pursue new and exciting ventures.

Great Grief – Ivory (Lie) Music Video

This album is a product of the chaos of extensive touring for three solid years. They may have escaped their hometown to be a worldwide hardcore monolith, yet it’s their Icelandic community to propel them to be one of Iceland’s “hardest working bands.”

Love, Lust, and Greed is not taken lightly. “The Nihilist Digest” is brazenly in your face. “Troubled Canvas” elevates to be one of the band’s more forward moving songs without burning everything around them along the way. The interruptive rhythms build a slight disorienting feel, where “Troubled Canvas” pushes forward in its welcomed driving beat.

There is a self-destructive mentality within these songs. It’s a way of coping with society pushing the buttons and the band exploding with an openness to the isolation that surrounds them. Vanquishing toxic suppression through hyper-realistic sounds is the overall achievement. Great Grief has made a noise and that noise has been heard.

Love, Lost, and Greed is the beast that tackles the illness and propels everything to the forefront with great velocity. It’s what hardcore has always been. Great Grief just pushes a little harder with good reason.