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Grime - Live

Grime
Live – Oct. 2017

The air is heavy, the lights are dim, and the conversations skittle away, hiding in the corners as Grime takes to the stage. Eyes up and hair down, I knew we were in for something good.

Grime, the italian sludge act, released their first album in 2013 on the well-known Mordgrimm records. They might be the best-named band I can think of – the unclean buzz of the strings and damp mix of instruments give off a filthy, pock-marked sound, the kind you'd hear from scraping a sewer floor. I didn't know of them until their 2015 record, Circle of Molesters, but they're the kind of band who can do no wrong.

The first note hit, and the bass shook me in unholy ways. After staggering a few steps back, I looked up at the stage and saw some of the best lighting since Messuggah. A white backdrop, searchlight-style movement carving the silhouettes of Grime into my retina. Marco, lead guitar, was spectacular in his theatrics. Doubling over in rage and pain, down to his low microphone, his figure inhuman at times, he spat and screamed while delivering the best sludge riffs the mediteranean has to offer. Vocals effects like delay were welcome, giving him a cavernous, powerful voice and adding to the already uneasy atmosphere.

Underneath the messy fuzz of guitars and vocals lay the drums, which do a great job at directing the flow of the song. Chris, the drummer, knows exactly when to switch up beats, and knows what to switch to. While the main dynamic is “slow/slower”, I was kept interested the whole way through – even with gruelling repetitive riffs, simple cymbal and rhythm changes suffised.


While this isn't on them, the sound mix was incredible that night. At the wrong spots you'd be deafened by the bass, but elsewhere the clarity was surprising – especially given how muffled sludge can get. The slightly buried vocals sounded like a stylistic decision seeing as it's also the case on the albums, and enhances the unhealthy, sweaty aesthetic Grime has going for them.




Giuseppe Fitzsimmons
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