ALBUM REVIEW: Collapse – Grief Ritual
Vile. Visceral. Violent. For the uninitiated, these words might paint a negative picture but fear not dear reader. These are appropriate descriptions for Collapse, the debut offering from GRIEF RITUAL. Having sown their seeds with 2022’s Spiritual Disease, the UK-based band have been turning heads and now, armed with their debut, GRIEF RITUAL look set to continue the UK’s stellar reputation for producing top tier extreme music.
Fusing elements of black and death metal with the primal aggression of hardcore – similar to UK cult heroes LEECHED – GRIEF RITUAL do not fuck about, they are here to unleash carnage. And over the course of Collapse‘s near 40 minute runtime, the band achieve that and then some. Opener Spiral begins with a foreboding tone, with sludge-soaked atmospherics painting a nightmarish picture before the band unleash utter bedlam as a cacophony of guttural snarls from Jamie Waggett slam with thumping drums and punishing riffs that hit like a freight train. It’s a thunderous opening and sets the scene in explosive fashion.
From there, GRIEF RITUAL keep the blows coming and every hit connects like a knockout punch in a heavyweight boxing match. Recursion benefits from the larynx-shredding vocals that act as an effective counter-weight to Waggett‘s low gutturals, Gnaw sees the band balance the pacing expertly with enough slamming riffs to get even the sternest metalhead to smile and bang their head, whilst Bile – a short and explosive number weighing in at just shy of two minutes – sees the band teaming up with London firebrands BURNER for one of the most explosive songs on the entire record.
Thematically, Collapse is a scathing assessment of the current state of the world, spewing disgust towards the West’s obsession with materialistic gain, the existential dread of the climate crisis and the abysmal ideologies of fascism, bigotry and imperialism. This hits hardest with Consumed, the longest track on the record. Here, the band dive fully into their black metal influences to present a track that is packed to the brim with existential dread and the way in which the spoken word segment is delivered sends chills down your spine. There’s no escapist fantasy to be found with Collapse, this is GRIEF RITUAL holding a mirror to the world and the reflection is utterly harrowing.
It is this disdain for the current state of the world that flows from track one (Spiral) through to track eleven (Marrow) and keeps the album grounded. Artifice benefits from this in the way in which Waggett shrieks and growls alongside the foundation shattering breakdowns, Calcify twists and contorts with sinister glee and boasts one of the heaviest breakdowns you’ll likely hear all year and Marrow‘s call to dismantle the current political system with a call to arms (“We cannot reform systems designed to harm, It’s time to dismantle all they’ve established, And make them feel the weight of this world, Make them… Collapse”) just inspires you to take to the street and call for positive change.
Collapse is as bleak as it is explosive with its themes interlacing with the music to wonderous effect. As we have consistently seen throughout the course of human history, the best art is created in times of trouble and with Collapse, GRIEF RITUAL have achieved just this. Following in the footsteps of the UK’s metallic hardcore heavyweights, Collapse is a stunning effort from a band that look set to grow to become one of the UK’s brightest sparks. And in a time that feels ever so hopeless as the climate crisis rages and the far-right continue to step out of the shadows, we could all use a little hope.
Rating: 9/10
Collapse is out now via Church Road Records.
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