Doomed Confessionary: Bryan, Adria & Alex (Grilth)
Grilth is a three-piece sludge metal band that emerged from the local music scene in Buffalo, New York. The band was started by Bryan Radez (guitar, vocals), Adria Rose (drums), and Corey Wilde (bass) in the winter of 2018-19. They began playing live shows and recorded their debut EP »Primordial Delirium« before the pandemic.
During the pandemic era, they released a split album with Blunt Horse. Corey then left the group, and Bryan and Adria continued as a two-piece playing shows whenever possible. Eventually Alex Novakovic joined the band on bass duties.
In October 2025, Grilth released their first full-length album, »Turmoil«, which collects songs written over the course of 5-6 years. It definitely leans more into the slower, sludgier and doomier side of the band but also displays a more developed and experimental sound than their first release.
Fans of Conan, Sleep, Electric Wizard, Monolord, Godflesh, Melvins, Kylesa, Black Cobra, High On Fire, and the like, pay heed.
Can you please say a few words about your band?
Bryan: Grilth is a sludge metal band from Buffalo, NY formed in the winter of 2018-19. The current lineup is Bryan Radez on guitar and vocals, Adria Rose on drums and Alex Novakovic on bass.
Adria: Grilth is sludge metal predominantly, its been a passion project spanning over a few years, its the longest running & first band I have been a part of.
Alex: Grilth is a face melting, earth shaking doom three piece.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Bryan: About a year into the band existing and picking up momentum the pandemic happened and we couldn’t play as many shows for a couple of years, our original bassist also disappeared from the band around that time, I (vocalist, guitarist) also had some health issues keeping me in and out of hospitals a couple years into the pandemic, making it tough to be super active with live shows.
Adria: At one point, it was finding a new bassist. Then the pandemic. Nowadays, its plotting where we’ll play outside Buffalo.
Alex: Learning how to melt faces with sick riffs.
What can you be most proud of so far?
Bryan: Our first full length »Turmoil« that includes a lot of early material that we sat on for years and also some songs that were written around when the process of recording for the album was about to begin, so it has a wide range of what kind of songs we’ve been writing over the past handful of years leading up the album being released.
Adria: Our first full length, »Turmoil«. Some of these songs were kept alive in Bryans and my memories for years before being recorded.
Alex: Melting faces with sick riffs.
What was your biggest regret?
Bryan: Not playing shows outside of NY as much as I’d like to, we love Buffalo and the surrounding region but we’ve been around long enough to tread carefully with overdoing it with shows in our region to not burn people out. We’re hoping to start branching out of our region with out of town shows within the next few years.
Adria: Uhhhhhh I have none with this band. I love everything we do & every gig I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved.
Alex: Disappointing my father.
Photo credit: Brandon Oleksy
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
Bryan: One of my favorite shows we played was Mummyfest in Detroit years ago, it wasn’t a particularly good show but I remember most of it very well because it was our first out of town show and the other acts were so bizarro, a lot of shows can all blur together after a while but I remember that one pretty vividly. Me and our bass player at the time got completely drenched in the rain before we played, luckily nobody got electrocuted.
Adria: It’s hard to pinpoint just one, but we played The Psychic Garden in Rochester (RIP) last summer at a gig that was just absolutely perfect. We played the first guerilla showfare gig in 2024 and that was one of ky favorite gigs ever.
Alex: Probably the goat farm realize show in Rochester.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
Bryan: All the younger bands coming up in Buffalo and Rochester, Ithaca etc. I remember trying to do music in my early 20s and I don’t remember many other bands having members around my age at the time, everyone in the other bands and putting on shows was older than me and I remember it being pretty intimidating when I first started out. So it’s cool to see people who are around that age now being able to do this and being able to have like minded peers on some level.
Adria: Seeing children find a way to mosh to sludge metal. I’m not really sure. Maybe more seriously, returning from a two year hiatus where the entire scene was different, and people still remembering us and showing out. That felt nice.
Alex: Nothing.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Bryan: The new Neurosis album, new Mastodon, new Russian Circles album, the song Godflesh dropped recently… also been listening to a lot of Yob, Tombs and the latest High on Fire album a lot recently.
Adria: Godflesh, whos always at the top of it, and Impetigo. Also Man Is The Bastard. Beyond that I only listen to Hank Williams.
Alex: The Stooges.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Bryan: My guitar teacher when I was a kid told me to stop doing drugs when I turn 30 or something before I never saw him again… also some guy who worked at a music store where I grew up told me I’d never be a real musician while playing what I believe was my first ever show and he kept trying to sabotage our show, it was a good thing to have happen early on so I’d be prepared for all the weird things that can happen while doing music.
Adria: The best advice I was ever given, maybe cliche, was just to keep going. Theres been times where it all felt like a big nothing, but I have been proven wrong in the best way possible.
Alex: Practice.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Bryan: I really like listening to Moondog, Sun Ra, Captain Beefheart, Terry Riley and stuff like that sometimes, not really a guilty pleasure, just far removed from what I’m normally associated with musically.
Adria: Tool. That’s the only one I actually don’t talk about much. Or maybe SexxyRed but I don’t feel guilty about that.
Alex: Eating one million McDonald’s burger and melting faces with sick riffs.
Can you say something more about the current music scene in Buffalo?
Bryan: Buffalo, NY has a lot of good up and coming bands right now despite the punk house shortage happening everywhere, people still find a way which is inspiring. I feel like there’s more variety in musical styles happening with local bands than I remember from when I was younger, although I would encourage younger bands to not be afraid to get weird with it and branch away from any pre-established genre, that’s something I’d like to see more of.
Adria: It’s the best its ever been. There has never been this many people involved, new bands, and just general interest in punk/metal while ive been around in Buffalo. I cant speak for other regions though.
Alex: Buffalo’s doom/hardcore/punk has been slowly growing since Covid.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
Bryan: We will probably be focusing on getting a couple releases recorded hopefully at the end of 2026 and possibly released in 2027, so as far as shows we’ll probably have some one-off gigs in Buffalo and Rochester to finish out the year but ultimately we have a couple very different sounding releases that we’re chomping at the bit to finally get recorded. It’s mostly material we’ve been playing live a lot over the past few years now.
Adria: Good question….. We don’t have a tour planned, I’m not sure what gigs are coming up, maybe Bryan can answer this better. But we’ll be rippin some gigs before the snow flies.
Alex: Outer space.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Bryan: After we get some new music released I’d like to start doing out of town weekenders and possibly longer out of town runs, it’s time for Grilth to invade the rest of the US!
Adria: We have a massive back catalogue of music to record, some of it is pretty old now. I’m most excited for our next album, it is a love letter to Godflesh.
Alex: Melt faces with sick riffs.
How can people best support your band?
Bryan: We have music on Bandcamp, you can always buy CDs and shirts from us directly at shows or you can contact us for that stuff. The best way to support us and any smaller bands is to just come to shows if you’re nearby or if you see us come through your town.
Adria: We’re on Bandcamp! Instagram too. Probably most other streaming too I think.
Get your face melted off by their sick riffs.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Bryan: Support smaller bands! Most bands are relying on playing live and selling merch to keep their operation going so don’t be afraid to come out if you want people to keep making new music!
Adria: Go start a band. Buy a gun. Get an old chevy and rip it two thousand miles inland. Love and take care of your people. Listen to Grief.
Alex: Get ready for your face to melt off.
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well