GREH – Dysphoric Devotion
Release Date: 15th January 2025
Label: Fetzner Death Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Death-Doom, Blackened Death Metal.
FFO: Conan, YOB, Hexis, Heriot, Nails, Mantar, Konvent, Primitive Man.
Review By: Rick Farley
GREH, Germany’s newest blackened, death-doom metal band, was originally founded in 2022 as a one-man project, and then fully realized into a full membered band in 2023. Consisting of founder Gjero Krsteski (guitar / ex. Hellgreaser), Marice Monne (drums / Hard Strike, Milan) and Martin Kocula vocals / Grau), GREH takes us all on an engaging journey through the lonely darkness and the murky depths of lumbering heaviness, with doomy grooves and airy dissonance.
On March 31, 2023, the EP Reversion of the Repressed was released digitally, consisting of five songs that showed the bands take on blackened death metal with heavy doom elements. Dysphoric Devotion marks the band’s debut full length album, being released by Fetzner Death Records on January 15th, 2025.
Dysphoric Devotion kicks things off monstrously with Chained Thoughts, an energetic paced, chunky, death metal rager with dual vocals aka Bill Steer, Jeff Walker style (Carcass). Booming low, throaty gutturals and screechy highs trading off like warring demons. The hard charging riffs are groovy with a small dose of unorthodox dissonance that accents the guitars just enough from being overly chuggy. This crushing track forwardly pummels away for three minutes, never overstaying its welcome.
Track two, also the title track, Dysphoric Devotion, takes a slightly different but no less heavy approach to its attack. It stomps and spits like a deranged beast. Leaning more toward straight forward death metal with a loose crunchiness to the guitars and loads of double bass. I’m personally not hearing a ton of blackened elements or doominess in this one, but it still sounds like the same band. Oddly, this track (as well as a few others) kind of stops abruptly, feeling like the band is not sure how to end it. Which makes the transition to track three sound off to me.
By the end of the very grim, Illusion Cenotaph, which is much more dissonant and doomier than the other two, you kind of get the jest of what the rest of the album will sound like. Not necessarily a terrible thing by any means, but GREH shows their full hand rather quickly. Not too many surprises to come, with a few weaker tracks, it doesn’t have the flow of a complete album. For this style of sluggish to mid paced, oppressive death metal, it works in smaller doses extremely well. Throw it on, wreck everything in sight, and then move on. Headbang till the wheels come off, so to speak, and then set it aside until it’s needed again.
These are the type of records that resonate with some people better than others. On one hand, this is heavy, satisfying and sounds ugly as hell in the best possible way, but on the other hand, it’s nothing that you haven’t heard before and a little repetitive. So, the question is how many times you are willing to hear a good record that’s already been done a million times over by other bands? GREH is clearly a talented band well worth your time, but for me right now, Dysphoric Devotion will scratch a particular itch only when I need it to. Give this a spin and see for yourself, I doubt anyone will be disappointed. There is definitely potential here.
(3.5 / 5)
