Grenades – “Emerald” [SoundCloud Song Stream]

The Skinny: Grenades are a post-hardcore, post-punk, post-whatever band from Seattle, WA. Formed in late 2009, and influenced by bands such as Coliseum, Botch, and Young Widows. Since their first show in 2010, they’ve played locally and regionally with bands like Akimbo, Gaza, Helms Alee, Narrows, Sandrider, and many others.

The quartet – Aaron Yost, Jerome Sauer, Eric Christianson, and Trent McIntyre – have already earned respect in Seattle’s music scene by playing in beloved Northwest noisemakers including Kane Hodder and Claymore. Just a few months after forming, the band self-released a three-song demo, and in 2011 they co-released a split 12-inch with Mercy Ties (which received glowing reviews from The Stranger, Sound on the Sound, Seattle Rock Guy, Elementary Revolt, and basically every other music blog that bothered to listen to it).

And now, after three years, hundreds of shows, and a lot of beer and bad jokes, Heaven Is Empty is finally here. Recorded with Christiaan Morris at the Red Room in Seattle, Heaven Is Empty boasts both an impressive, seasoned technical ability (see: guitar riffs on “Collecting Your Bones”) as well as unyielding fervor (check Yost’s throat-shredding on opener “Emerald” – shit doesn’t sound human), making it a powerful addition to Seattle’s exciting hard rock scene.