GRIEVANCE - NOS OLHOS DA CORUJA

So this one is a new one for me. Grievance from Portugal. Just by looking at his discography, I knew I was in for some experienced black metal. Since 2013, Grievance has been a one-man project and has been around since 1997. He has released 3 full length albums before this so he knows what he is doing music wise.

Just by listening to the first few seconds of the album, you know you are getting into a homage to the first wave of Norwegian black metal. The comparison with Darkthrone/Mayhem and Burzum are being drawn fairly quickly. What is really clear is that the vocals are very high in the mix. Usually with old school black metal projects, the vocals could be lost in the mix but that is not the case with Grievance. The vocals of Koraxid are very up front and they sound very demanding at times. Other bands (especially from Iceland) have got that same type of demanding vocal sound.

During the album, you will hear a lot of nods towards Burzum especially. During the song 'Presságio' there are a few riffs and drum patterns that could be taken out of a demo recording of 'Hvis Lyset Tar Oss'. A good explanation for the riffs is that they are very long and mid-paced. They keep you longing for more and more and that is exactly what Grievance is going to give you. The song that really keeps playing in the back of my head is without a doubt 'Tel Megiddo'. I wouldn't know if Koraxid is making a song about an ancient site in Israel but it could be true. The reason why I like this song more than others is that there are many elements mixed in this song that make it just a bit more unique than the others like that there are some kind of chugging riffs during the song. The other thing is, is that the opening riff is probably the most memorable of them all.

If you follow the underground black metal scene a bit, you might know that there is a very large black metal uprising in Portugal. More and more black metal gigs are being held over there and I am sure that Grievance (if he performs live) could be a great addition to many of those gigs. It is a really good album to listen to or just put the cd in your cd player and just play it in the background.

Overall, the album has surprised me. There aren't many surprises left in 2020 (I hope) but Grievance was certainly a surprise that is more than welcome. The album is getting a release through the Dutch label Void Wanderer Production. It's going to be released on a very nice digipak together with another label called War Productions. It's a small run of 200 cds so if you want to grab a copy, act fast because I believe that this one could go fast.