Greet Death’s hefty wall of sound style is often referred to as shoegaze, which is perhaps a slight misnomer. True, the layers of distortion are all there, and their vocals err on the side of subdued floatiness familiar to the genre’s lyricism. The downtrodden, gloomy nature of 2019’s New Hell, however, was more resoundingly dire in its dense tone than the dreamy imagery connoted by the pedal-obsessive genre’s reputation.
Hum comparisons or inspiration aside, New Hell largely feels fresh over a half decade later owing to these elements. With shoegaze now in the midst of a mini renaissance, the band possessed all the necessary components to distinguish themselves again on Die in Love: alternating vocalists, a promising integration of unhurried slowcore, almost veering into the foreboding territory of doomgaze. Not entirely unheard of, but novel nonetheless.
Die In Love sees the band consciously wrestle with this process of re-imagination – in the press material, guitarist and vocalist Logan Gaval mentions listening to The Beatles and Paul McCartney’s solo work “because I was trying to figure out how to write a song that wasn’t just depressing”.
The album, unsurprisingly, is often brighter than much of their past output, a collection of love songs which detail its inseparable moments of tragedy and bliss. Die In Love frequently leaves behind the fading Rust Belt rage associatively tied to titling like New Hell and Dixeland – the latter referring to a local flea market in Flint, Michigan, the band’s hometown – for an increasingly prettified palette. The summative result is decent, featuring forward-thinking strides and sonic callbacks alike.
“Same but Different Now” most resembles their speedier past output, incidentally indicated by its name. Although it takes a second to get going, the drumming’s kineticism brings out the best of the band, upping the pace behind Gaval’s despondent vocals. Murmurs give way to screams; the handclaps, on the other hand, are out of place, but the momentum is never quite derailed. His guttural cries up the ante once more, culminating in a pronounced enunciation of vigor that ends the song.
Elsewhere, the record is largely pleasant, although it lacks similar experiences of intensity attached to love’s ecstasy or pain. Opener “Die in Love” comes the closest, a semi-celestial Failure-esque track with sunny, anthemic melodies suited for the group’s often seismic sound. It is straightforwardly effective, among the most memorable listens on the project. Comparatively, many of Die In Love’s tracks morph into one another, despite Gaval and Harper Boyhtari exchanging lead vocal responsibilities as seamlessly as ever.
For instance, “Red Rocket” wanders into similar stylings found on the title track. While the percussion on the latter is effective, it stagnates here; the song calls for booming, cavernous backing on the verses which it sorely lacks. “August Underground” and “Country Girl” each scratch the itch at their weightiest, roaring with strong payoff. The instrumental contrast between the song sections on the former unfortunately feels as if they are working overtime for lacking dynamics. Bright, echoey reverberations found on the verse’s riffs are agreeable throughout Die In Love, but less inspired. In refashioning themselves, Greet Death sound a little more like everyone else.
The light, breezy indie rock of “Love Me When You Leave” brings the album to a close, another evolutionary step developing the acoustic appeal of “Dixieland” and “Let It Die” from their previous two LPs respectively. It evinces successful, intentional growth, a statement of identity. Looking behind on the tracklist, though, a not-insignificant portion of the songs remain somewhat underwhelming. While the crushing physicality of heartbreak is rendered with some success, the flipside of infatuation’s weightless soar is, during Die In Love’s more ethereal bits, less touching.
