On most days at this site I try to pull together a round-up of new music, album art, and/or news that most interested me over the preceding 24 hours. It’s usually in the range of 3-5 items, packaged together in one long post. Today, just for the hell of it, I’m spreading what interested me over the course of the whole day, one item at a time.
Grift are a two-man Swedish band formed in 2011 (consisting of Perditor on vocals and strings and J. Hallbäck on drums) whose music I just discovered yesterday. They’ve recorded a four-song debut EP, Fyra elegier, that’s scheduled for release on April 15 by the Nordvis label. And what I heard yesterday is a song from the EP named “Dödens dåd”.
The song begins with a mournful, folk-inspired violin solo set against the sound of falling rain . . . or maybe the hiss and crackle of an old platter of vinyl on the turntable . . . and then it rapidly transitions to a different kind of bleak atmosphere, one that unfolds to the muffled rumble of drums, the winding chords of tremolo guitar, and the anguished, scarring cries of Grift’s vocalist. Both stately and intense, the song reminds me of mid-stage Burzum, and its melancholy sounds have infected my head.
The EP can be pre-ordered here. Listen below.
8 Responses to “GRIFT: “DÖDENS DÅD””
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If I may be “that guy” right now, are you sure that’s falling rain you’re hearing? It sounds like a hiss/crackle effect so as to make it sound like it’s coming from an old, dusty record player. But I’m listening on my shitty speakers at work atm, can’t confirm.
Now that my audiophile/OCD moment is out of the way, this track is rad! Awesome find. Definitely follow up and post the album when it’s out (if it becomes available to stream from Bandcamp or something).
Listening yet again, I think you my be right about the background sound with the violin — and so I took the liberty of adding what you said to my write-up.
I feel like such an asshole when I point stuff like that out. Just know that I’m doing it out of love. <3
Hey, no worries at all Sean. I wrestled with what I was hearing behind the violin, and took my best shot, but I’ve abused my ears so viciously over the years that I’m happy to have all the help I can get. 🙂
Reminds me of Drudkh, which is ok in my book. Also, is the production minimal and fuzzy or do I just need new computer speakers?
Anyone know the lyric of this song? What is it about?
I don’t know. I did find a German interview of Perditor linked below and found this exchange about the lyrics of the album as a whole. This was run through Google translate, so the English is not the best; I tried to clean it up a bit:
“Regarding your lyrics, I understand that you are inspired by John Edfelt, Pär Lagerkvist and Dan Andersson. In what way were you inspired by these three poets and writers? And is there a specific atmosphere or a specific theme that unites all three artists and that is very important for you? And as you stand to the fact that these three individuals are certainly a very unusual and extraordinary inspiration for Black Metal since at least Pär Lagervist [but also Dan Andersson ] has dealt with the Christian religion and spirituality?
Perditor : These poets and their poems are something that I carry with me every day. They have all expressed their feelings in different ways to express and are therefore due to their personal writing style is very important. All were agnostic. Pär Lagerkvist was a master when it comes to writing about the feeling of not finding God and the associated existential loneliness and abandonment. John Edfelt wrote some of his poems specifically about the phenomenon of death and this has given me a lot of inspiration for the lyrics to ” Fyra elegier ” . Dan Anderson is something like the Swedish personalized poverty and therefore fits very well with our theme. I do not GRIFT than a traditional black metal band with a satanic agenda, et cetera . Our sources of inspiration are many and nothing can stop us from finding it and to use what is important for us – regardless of the musical style of religion or of politics!
Interview link:
http://www.metalnews.de/interviews/J.+Hallbäck+u.+Perditor+von+Grift.1294.html