Featured Musician: Vicegrip

By JOEY CHAPMAN Photos by Nathan Congleton

In the ever-humid summer of 2008, five friends hailing from all corners of Hampton Roads came together, hoping their separate influences would immerge into a hardcore powerhouse.

“All of our past bands had broken up around the same time, so we got together and collaborated,” says bassist Chad Cornwell.

The resulting songs written that summer would later become the bands demo. As furious and heartfelt as the five tracks were, their 2008 demo (released on Swim Harder cassettes) showed there was a presence of uncertainty in which direction their music would take. Without front man Knox Colby’s distinguishable vocals, listeners may have thought the recording was a compilation of bands, opposed to a flowing guided album.

Perfection is rarely an overnight occurrence. For some, it takes time. For Vicegrip, all that was needed was maturity.

“No time to escape/ I’m forced by their actions to a fork in the road: a fork in their tongues/ a kick to the f***ing head,” bellows Knox Colby in the record’s opening track “Lion’s Den.”

A year older and wiser, Vicegrip released their debut record, “Savage Struggle,” with help from Last Anthem Records. The demo’s one minute melodic, next minute Clevostyle worship flow had smoothed its kinks out, resulting in two tracks of unrelenting metallic hardcore. Both boisterous and refined, the hardcore outfit clearly demonstrated progress towards finding their niche.

Upon first listening to the record, I wondered where the group would go from there. Would their next release be equally heavy? Perhaps there would be catchier choruses with more hooks and sing-a-longs? Or would it be something completely different? A year later, those questions were answered by a deafening voice.

A local showcase at Double O Studios in Hampton, VA took place in honor of Moutheater latest EP release, but it was opening act, Vicegrip, who stole the show. Knox, Chad, Keith, Rodney, and Phillip delivered a punishing ten-minute block of virgin material to the eager audience. I quickly locked my dropped jaw, fearing the sonic assault would knock me unconscious. Visceral, sludgy, hopeless, and more than anything, pissed. White knuckles, grinding teeth, and banging heads were aplenty amongst the crowd. I’ve been associated with the band for a number of years now, and I can honestly say that this is the best material the fivepiece has offered.

You can sample the rough tracks on the band’s bandcamp page (HYPERLINK "http://vicegrip. bandcamp.com/"http://vicegrip. bandcamp.com/) and fight out for yourself. If you are a fan of Integrity, Ringworm, Pulling Teeth, Shipwreck, it is imperative that you educate yourself