10 years ago Thy Grief released their one and only album The Frozen Tomb Of Mankind through the German based recordlabel Solistitium. The album sold about 2000 copies and the band never performed live.
The Forzen Tomb Of Mankind tracklist:
1. The Frozen Tomb Of Mankind
2. Blod PÃ¥ Himmelen
3. Into The Land Of Shadows
4. Twilight Shine Upon Majestic Mountains
5. Da Mørket Omfavnet Meg
6. Nocturnal Eyes
7. In Spite Of Victory
8. Echoes From A Past Forgotten
9. Sorgens Klør
Kjetil Monsen - Vocals & Guitars
Kim Anders H. Johannessen - Guitars
Christer Korsvold - Bass & Synth
Frode Gaustad - Drums
Reviews:
Scream Magazine No. 38, dec97/jan98 (Norway)
3/6
"Det er Black Metal det dreier seg om, Thy Grief er fra Bergen, og deres debut album inneholdertradisjonell sort metal. I likhet med f.eks. Obtained Enslavement har også Thy Grief rikelig med synther og melodier, og flere av låtene er av den majestetiske sorten. Det mangler allikevel litt før man når toppen, men albumet er allikevel en godkjent debut." - Bjørn Nørsterud
The Seventh Scroll No. 2 - 1998 (U.S.A)9/10
"I was really impressed with the first effort of Thy Grief. The music comes across as epic Black Metal, employing well defined guitars, drums, vocals, and keyboards. The riffs are not especially innovative, but they are well produced, really catchy, and evoke the atmosphere of darkness. The really incredible thing about this release are the keyboard passages. If you are a fan of Black Metal using keyboards, this release is one to get. The emotions that the keyboard evoke is something that few albums can match. Also of note is the drumming. The beats really add to the music, giving it an element of fullness that is really noticable. The packing, especially the cover artwork, is also top rate. Finally, the production, as stated before, gives each instrument full definition, and nothing is lost in the mix. Once again, THY GRIEF's music is nothing groundbreaking, but the execution is flawless, and it makes for a fine release." - Ezunoth
Bylec Tum No. 2 - 1998 (Italy)
"Interviewd between these pages, the nordic Thy Grief are arrived to their first Cd, out for the German Solistitium rec.. The album inside 9 fast songs of unholy but at the same time melodic Black art in the vein of the best Immortal and the first Darkthrone, but with a great touch of riginality. The songs that more have impressioned my poor ears are the first 'The Frozen Tomb of Mankind', 'Into the Land of Shadows' (that could be one of the new Emeror's songs!), 'Nocturnal eyes', 'In spite of Victory', 'Echoes from a past Forgotten' (in the vein of Emperor, for voice and guitars!!!). This is a good album, counseled to those more fond to the old aggressive B.M. songs but also of the moment. Buy or Die!!!"
Franang Zine No. 2 - 1997 (France) [Adv. tape for CD]
"After their surprising demo THY GRIEF comes back with their first CD. This adv. tape contains 5 songs taken from the album that has 9 songs and lasts 50 min. The first change from the demo is the guitars; they have evolved into an higher sound, and that is better. Songs are more mature, more drastic; this band plays an agressive metal with lots of fast drum parts. The production is well done for a first CD, and suffers from nothing. It seem that this band knows what they want. The song 'Into The Land Of Shadows' is indubitably the master piece of this album; listen to it. The Norwegian B.M. scene will attract many listeners with these kinds of bands."
Metal Archives - 28th Dec. 2006 (Canada/U.S.A.)80%
"By 1997 most Black Metal masterpieces had been released, the most important bands were already aging away and the genre was being divided by underground traditionalists and the more commercially viable heavy metal based vampire bands. To me, Thy Grief is a band of honest musicians that studied well the genre of Norwegian Black Metal and decided to create a musical essay which is what this is, before disbanding as if for respect for themselves and for the genre they pay tribute to.
The music is pretty cool, solid and dark with a melancholic vibe to it through out the album. For black metal is a very easy listen without being too simple. I would say this is melodic mid tempo metal which on three tracks slow down to doom-like speeds. Blast beats are used sparsely which gives the sense of a lightly atmosphere so you can clearly hear the guitar melodies grow and fuck man, there are some really beautiful melodies here that remind me of Emperor and Gorgoroth. Drum variation range from the repetitive drone-like necro black metal to the more rock like Dissection style in its low moments. There are some quintessential black metal moments that are great but sadly the overall composition falls short from the great bands they got their inspiration from and immediately shows the weak points to the album which is when they replace musical theory with sentimental melodrama to achieve their aesthetic goal which probably was to create a dark and melancholic ambience, but instead they rather achieve nostalgic and sentimental tunes. Keyboards complement the emotional background with class without being overused very Emperor influenced. Tracks 3,5 and 8 are sort of balladesque doomier stuff that decorate the album with more obvious sadness and despair and that is when keyboards unfold with melodramatic clouding. Track 4 fucking killz, this band studied well the Gorgoroth mastery of melodic greatness. The rest of the songs are of good quality. I think that the music has a sincere intention or spirit and in its darkness and nostalgia there is a kind of intensity that reminds me of early Immortal, a contemplative fascination with nature and feelings of desolation. Vocals are low key shrieking whispers with some gothic clean whispered parts that fit the music perfectly because these tunes could be described as delicate rather than blasting brutal or dissonant. I would say Thy Grief are more cold harsh than savage and maybe waltzlike like Graveland on the second track. In its core emotion this is dancelike funeral music that celebrates rather than pays homage to the dead. Lyrics are about lonely souls that wander through cold misty forests and mountains trying to find an inner world to escape the material society that suffocate the free spirited, there is meaning in embracing nature just before our very last breath.
Humankind shall be put to rest and when that happens, Nature will reign supreme again!" - Cotarelo
- Link to Metal Archives website: | Thy Grief profile | Index |
Twilight Newsletter No. 1 - April 1998 (Italy)
"Another evil but melodic Black Metal band from Norway that should catch your attention...Malicious voice and fast parts, good solos and majestic keyboards make of this medley a winning one! The fifth song results my favourite, but all these nine tracks will delight your ears, believe me!!"
Cranium 'zine No. 4 - 1998 (Lithuania)10/10
"A pure storm of northern aggression! Unique debut with 100% of mental stress and mystery. Terribly fast and unclear black metal at it's best form. Atheistic blasphemies and low warlike tone of voice are magnificently tuned as well as fast and merciless assults of metallic guitars...drums are speedy, but quiet and majestic synths remains in deep abyss and crowns Thy Grief music with particular darkness...One more debut worth 10 points!" - Raimundas
The Realm of Nachzehrer Magazine No 2 Nov 1997 (Colombia)
"There are some aspects that surround this band musically talking. For example the manage of atmospheres through all the tracks which are created by acoustic guitars, synths, also the mixure of fast, agressive riffs with dismal atmospherec parts that we wrote above. This great album includes 9 tracks, which includes track from the demo. We think that the band can work better in some aspects, but in conclusion Solistitium has supported a talented band."