Canada’s GREBER are the no-holds-barred, to-the-point hardcore grind band that you have been waiting for, and for those uninitiated, they are a ferocious duo that keeps it on the low end, saturated with gritty vocals and a no-bullshit attitude.
Steve Vargas (drums/vocals) (The Great Sabatini, BIIPIIGWAN) and Marc Bourgon (bass, vocals) (ex-F*ck The Facts, Cancelled) have put out several albums, both full lengths and splits with an admirable array of bands. Their newest contribution is “Fright Without”, ten succinct tracks that may surprise longtime fans of the band. They cite, in relation to their evolution, that since 2006 it’s been an involved process and that having just one melodic instrument it’s sometimes as limiting as it is freeing. Right when Bourgon feels like he’s run out of ideas, another one emerges and Greber keeps puttering along.
He explains the third single off “Fright Without” – “Fabricated Purpose”: “Honestly, this is our best attempt at Masakari worship. The beginning hits the mark but invariably comes off the rails towards the end. The end needed something special and we’ve always been huge fans of all that is Kevin Keegan. He was kind enough to lend his golden voice to the track and we couldn’t possibly be more chuffed. When I sent Kurt the song he asked if it was Danko Jones on that part. I told him it wasn’t but was stoked that he knew who Danko was. The outro has some atmospheric drones courtesy of Sean Pearson.”
When asked how they will expect fans to take the new album, with its slightly divergent sound compared to their previous work, they explain that they have no idea, it’s the same but different. They muse that perhaps they are “over the hill and should pack it in, maybe this is the best shit we’ve ever written, maybe hard trance has always been the best fit for us”. It’s up to listeners to decide now, and those with an interest in Black Sheep Wall, Primitive Man, and Cult Leader should take note.
“Fright Without” is slated for September 9, 2022, and will be available from the following labels: Ancient Temple and Nofuneral for Vinyl, CD, and Cassette in Canada, Hibernation Release for Vinyl in the USA, and 7 Degrees and Fresh Outbreak for Vinyl in Europe.
Comments the band: “For this record, I (Marc), would get some ideas into a skeletal structure via some computer demos and then send them off to Steve to hash out some general ideas. From there we just ran the Christ out of them in our jam space and they morphed accordingly. I still get amped on hearing how Steve perceives the stuff I bring to the table. It’s never the way I hear it in my head and I couldn’t be happier with the way that we’ve evolved together over the years. It’s easy to take it for granted, but it’s something that I wholeheartedly cherish and love the dude to no end.”
The band premiered their previous single “Into Silence” in mid-July:
“A big difference between Fright Without and our last record, Cemetery Preston, was that there were a lot fewer revisions.” – continues the band.
“I could all too easily drive myself insane with the “make-song-better” process and I found that over time it was way too much stress and I couldn’t cope with doing it at that level anymore. Maybe if there were some clear-cut and qualitative progress made visible by the madness I would have had a harder time with the divorce but I love what we did with this record and am glad we switched up our approach.
Fright Without is a handleless staircase that disorients as much as it overwhelms. Our testament to suffering and hope, balance and woe, heaven and here. With Kurt Ballou lending his abilities to the mix we’re beyond happy with how the final product came to sound and we hope that the listener finds it to be as much of an escape as they do a confrontation.”
Album Band Line Up: Steve Vargas – Drums, Vocals, Marc Bourgon – Bass, Vocals, Kevin Keegan – Vocals and Lyrics on Fabricated Purpose, Scott Miller – Vocals and Noise on Bitchin’ Shades, Mathieu Vilandre – Guitar on Larkinitis, Kàrhozat – Noise on Dark Corners, Sean Pearson – Noise on Fistful of Cancon Dollars
Live Band Line Up: Steve Vargas – Drums, Vocals, Lights, Marc Bourgon – Bass, Vocals
