Biography

Grief was founded in 1991 by Disrupt

Disrupt

Disrupt was an American grindcore/crust punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, United States. They only released one mainstream album , however the band acquired a cult following on the strength of several underground 7-inch EPs and compilation appearances...

 guitarist Terry Savastano and drummer Randy Odierno (who later switched to bass and later again left to join Bane of Existence). They broke up in 2001 mainly due to drummer problems - something that was an ongoing problem for the band from the start. They also cited what they called a "hostile environment for doom metal bands". They reunited briefly in July 2005 to play a cluster of reunion shows.

The band had several 7"s including one with Dystopia

Dystopia (band)

Formed in Orange County, California in 1991, Dystopia was a sludge metal band, popular in both the heavy metal and crust punk scenes, due in large part to their bleak, misanthropic imagery...

 and Corrupted

Corrupted (band)

Corrupted are a Japanese doom/sludge metal band. They are known for their antipathy towards mainstream acceptance, even in their subgenre, which naturally tends towards obscurity. This is reflected not only in their dark and oppressive musical style but their reclusive nature, avoiding interviews...

 each. A compilation album called Turbulent Times appeared in 2002 through Southern Lord. The group reunited for one show at the first annual New England Grind And Doom Fest on July 17, 2005 at The Middle East Cafe

The Middle East (nightclub)

The Middle East is a live music venue, bar and restaurant in the Central Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Having featured a huge variety of musicians since 1987, the establishment, with its upstairs and downstairs rooms, "is the nexus of metro Boston's rock-club scene for local and touring...

 in Cambridge, MA. They were so excited by the response to this show that they began booking others, and they toured intermittently throughout 2005 and 2006.

In 2005, the band played shows through in venues including The Ace of Clubs and The Knitting Factory in New York, The Khyber in Philadelphia, O'Brien's in Allston/Brighton, MA, The Living Room in Providence, RI, and Cherry St. Station in CT.

In 2006 Southern Lord Records

Southern Lord Records

Southern Lord is an American record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson, specializing in what could broadly be classified as experimental heavy metal, particularly the doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal sub-genres. Some of the more notable artists on the label include Earth, Om,...

 released a full length live album called Alive which featured their performance at the Middle East in November 2005. The album features artwork by Eric C. Harrison, who did much of the band's painted cover artwork.

Grief's final appearance was at Emissions from the Monolith

Emissions from the Monolith

Emissions from the Monolith is an annual heavy metal festival that showcases mainly doom metal and sludge metal bands, considered to be the premiere heavy/doom/sludge metal festival in the US...

 8, a sludge/doom festival that took place in Ohio, May 2006.

The Hartford Advocate wrote the following about their 12/3/05 date at Cherry St. Station in CT:

"Since 1991, these Massholes have been writing songs about a distinctly New England flavor of depression and isolation. Jeff Hayward’s throat-shredding vocals often seem more hardcore than metal; indeed, almost 15 years later, it’s possible to see Grief as one of a handful of seminal NE bands who initiated the merger between hardcore and metal. However, unlike some of those bands, Grief still sounds both relevant and entertaining."

The band reformed in 2008 and toured the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, but they soon disbanded again in March 2009.

Members

• Jeff Hayward - vocals/guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  
• John Heidenrich - guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  /vocals
• Eric C. Harrison - bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  /vocals/artwork
• Ray McCaffrey - drum
  Drum
  The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
  
  s/percussion

Studio albums

Year	Title	Type	Label
1992	Depression	EP	Grievance Records
1993	Dismal	Studio album	Common Cause
1994	Come to Grief	Studio album	Vacuum Records / Century Media
1996	Miserably Ever After	Studio album	Theologian Records
1998	Torso	Studio album	Pessimiser Records
2000	...And Man Will Become the Hunted	Studio album	Pessimiser Records

Split singles

Year	Title	Split with	Label
1993	"Lifeless"	Dystopia Dystopia (band) Formed in Orange County, California in 1991, Dystopia was a sludge metal band, popular in both the heavy metal and crust punk scenes, due in large part to their bleak, misanthropic imagery...	Life Is Abuse/Misanthropic
1993	"Falling Apart"	13	Grievance Records
1994	"Pessimiser"	16 16 (band) 16 is a sludge metal band from Los Angeles, California that is currently signed to Relapse Records. Their latest album, Bridges to Burn was released in early 2009.-History:...	Theologian/Pessimiser
1995	"My Dilemma"	Corrupted Corrupted (band) Corrupted are a Japanese doom/sludge metal band. They are known for their antipathy towards mainstream acceptance, even in their subgenre, which naturally tends towards obscurity. This is reflected not only in their dark and oppressive musical style but their reclusive nature, avoiding interviews...	HG Fact
1995	"Green Vegetable Matter"	Soilent Green Soilent Green Soilent Green is a grindcore and sludge metal band that hails from Metairie, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans.-Overview:Soilent Green was founded in 1988. Their début album wasn't released until 1995, when Pussysoul came out on Dwell Records...	Pessimiser Records
1998	"Bored"	16 16 (band) 16 is a sludge metal band from Los Angeles, California that is currently signed to Relapse Records. Their latest album, Bridges to Burn was released in early 2009.-History:...	Theologian/Pessimiser

Compilation and live albums

• 2002: Turbulent Times (Southern Lord Records)
• 2006: Alive (Southern Lord Records)
• 2008: Euro Tour (Alerta Antifascista)

External links

Grief Official Website http://www.billtmiller.com/grief/

Eric Harrison's Art and Writing http://www.the-hold.com/harrison.html

Grief at Allmusic.com http://www.allmovie.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:z7d1vw9ya9ek~T1

Grief at Southernlord.com http://www.southernlord.com/band_GRI.php