Album Review: Greet Death – ‘Die In Love’
Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
With a name like Greet Death, it kind of goes without saying that the Michigan rockers’ catalog can be a bit of a heavy listen. Even just a run through the song titles on their most recent releases New Hell and New Low will give you a general idea of the macabre cloud that hangs over their nevertheless galvanizing brand of hazy, sludgy rock. Released in 2022, New Low featured more acoustic instrumentation and tambourine, poking a bit of sun through the miasmic cloud of tunes like “Punishment Existence” and “Your Love is Alcohol.” The group’s latest, Die In Love, pushes through the group’s self-imposed darkness a bit more, resulting in their best work yet. While New Low felt like lying under a weighted blanket on 100mg weed edibles alone in bed with the curtains pulled while a bottle of wine (that tastes like shit, but makes you feel good) sits half empty on the nightstand, Die in Love feels like sharing a crisp autumn morning joint and coffee on the porch with the person you love the most while the sunrise is soundtracked by chirping birds and the bustle of the city waking up around you.
After the title track kicks things off with bouncy tambourine, guitars that range from grimy to shimmering, and the sentiment “I just wanna die in love and erase all my pain,” “Same but Different Now” takes its time in building to the record’s first massive closing crescendo, allowing the ouroboros guitar line and driving hi-hat pattern to create a white knuckles on the steering wheel feel. It’s followed by fellow pre-release single “Country Girl,” one of three lighter songs by Harper Boyhtari that bring a sunny, gossamer balance to the punishing dread of Logan Gaval’s tunes. The tempo is pulled back and the approach more delicate as Boyharti’s lyrics spiral through satanic services, “small town shit” like hitting the liquor store before KFC, and catching John Carpenter flicks after work while contemplating the fact that “Laurie Strode has never been to Venice Beach.”
“Red Rocket” bounces between a pretty melody and a chthonic sway, while “Emptiness is Everywhere” leans all the way into the prettiness present on Die In Love with its uplifting mantra of “emptiness is everywhere, so hold each other close” wrapped in warm acoustics and bright tambourines. Like “Country Girl,” the lyrics border on stream-of-consciousness as Boyharti runs through the loss of her father’s close friend, “families everywhere drinking cheap beer / going crazy for a bullshit Eagles song,” and the evident observation that “no one’s surprised about the January snow.” The tune makes a strong pair in the middle of the record with Gaval’s “August Underground,” one of Greet Death’s more patient moments on Die in Love as it burns slowly into a huge jam.
After the somber interlude of “Small Town Cemetery” ends with Gaval answering his own question of “where does our time go?” with “inside a black hole,” the record closes out with both songwriters’ strongest outings here, Gaval’s “Motherfucker” leading off the encore. With lines like “I can’t remember when I had a genuine smile” and “it’s killing me to stay alive,” it’s classic Greet Death, but with the tambourine and lack of sludge on the guitars pushing it into the group’s slightly brighter sound.
It’s easy to imagine that there must have been an immediate decision to place “Love Me When You Leave Me” at the close of Die In Love when Boyhtari brought the tune to her bandmates. Gorgeous ringing acoustics accompany lines like “friends change, problems stay the same,” while the imploring “because once you’re gone you’re never coming back” could almost be read as Boyhtari looking back on the band’s past output and making the decision to move past that despair. At seven minutes, it’s the most deliberate, contemplative track here and about as perfect as you could get for a song to close out this slightly less morbid version of Greet Death.
Disappointing / Average/ Good / Great / Phenomenal
Die In Love is out everywhere today with vinyl, CDs, and cassettes available through Deathwish Records.
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Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
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