GRIEF RITUAL
Death metalcore brutes relish putting the boot into Tory Britain
THE UK IS going to shit and Grief Ritual know it. “The last couple of years, with the current Tory party, everything that’s been going on has been disgusting,” says the metalcore trio’s singer and lyricist, Jamie Waggett. “They’ve been trying to change the Human Rights Act and it feels like they’re dragging us back to the 1800s.”
On their new EP, Spiritual Disease, the Midlanders rage against the machine louder and more heavily than 99% of their genre peers. For example, the third song, Telluric, seethes over the underfunding of the NHS. “For a mental health diagnosis, you go to your GP and they’ll be like,
‘OK, we’ll put you on a list,’” Jamie says. “And maybe in six months or a year, someone will speak to you. By that time, your whole life could have fallen apart. You might not even be around any more.
“The Tory party have continually cut the NHS budget over the years while saying, ‘Oh no, we’re building new hospitals and hiring new doctors.’”
Meanwhile, Atrophy is equal parts a story of personal burnout and a rallying cry against employers that work you to the bone while barely paying you. Jamie explains: “It was inspired by when I worked in visual merchandising at H&M.
That job should have been split among three people. I was working from 6am to 6pm most days, yet I was earning just above the minimum wage.”
Spiritual Disease screams its frustrations with the modern world through a loudspeaker of death metal and hardcore. The bludgeoning breakdowns are interspersed with Entombed-esque tremolo picking and low, guttural roars. It’s a fusion that’s already seen the band play 2000trees and support Ithaca on tour. One thing’s certain: there’ll be no more long days in shops for Jamie. “I used to ruin myself working ridiculous hours,” he says, “and now I’m looking back going, ‘What was I doing with my life?’”