Woe is an American

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

band formed in 2007 in

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History

Woe began in 2007 as a solo project of Chris Grigg, who wrote and recorded the ''Absinthe Invocation'' demo as well as a

split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

7" with Infernal Stronghold. In 2008, Stronghold Records released ''A Spell for the Death of Man'', a full-length album again written and recorded entirely by Grigg. Over the next two years, Grigg recruited additional musicians—including Evan Madden (drums) and Shane Madden (bass) of

Woods of Ypres Woods of Ypres was a Canadian doom metal band from Windsor, Ontario. The band was founded in 2002, initially consisting of three members: David Gold, Aaron Palmer and Brian McManus. Their lineup frequently changed afterward, with over 20 members ...

—to perform live shows and write new songs. Woe signed to

Candlelight Records Candlelight Records is a British record label based in England and founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal ...

in 2010 and released their follow-up album ''Quietly, Undramatically''. In 2011 came a tour of the U.S. west coast and a tour with

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. 2011 and 2012 also brought lineup changes, including the departure of Evan Madden and Shane Madden and their replacement with Ruston Grosse on drums and Grzesiek Czapla on bass guitar. Their third album, ''Withdrawal'', was released by Candlelight Records on April 23, 2013 followed by tours of the United States and Europe.

Reception

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

called Woe " e of the best of a strong wave of young American black metal bands willing to play around with the boundaries of the genre" and "a group to watch out for". About ''Quietly, Undramatically'',

MetalSucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was foun ...

said "the band have managed to craft something that gives you a good sense of the possibilities STILL existent in the genre" and " is is the sound of black metal to come" while ''

Decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a po ...

'' praised its "sophistication without falling into the usual pitfalls of pretentiousness, cartoonish-ness or undue gloss". While discussing the lineup changes between albums, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' stated that ''Quietly, Undramatically'' "felt undecided, as though Grigg was trying to figure out how to use a full band now that he actually had one" but praised the newest lineup on ''Withdrawal''. With the release of their ''A Violent Dread EP'',

called them "one of the most highly respected names in American black metal."

Blabbermouth.net Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001; in October ...

gave ''A Spell for the Death of Man'' a rating of 6.5/10.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave ''Quietly, Undramatically'' a rating of 3.5/5. ''Withdrawal'' earned a rating of 9/10 from

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

and 8/10 from

Personnel

*Chris Grigg – guitar and vocals *Grzesiek Czapla – bass guitar *Lev Weinstein – drums *Matt Mewton – guitar

Discography

*''Absinthe Invocation: Five Spells Against God'' (self-released, 2007) *Split 7" with Infernal Stronghold (2007) *''A Spell for the Death of Man'' (Stronghold Records, 2008) *''Quietly, Undramatically'' (

, 2010) *''Withdrawal'' (Candlelight Records, 2013) *''Hope Attrition'' (Vendetta Records, 2017) *''A Violent Dread EP'' (Vendetta Records, 2019) *''Legacies of Frailty'' (Vendetta Records, 2023)

References

External links

{{Authority control American black metal musical groups