Bleakness "Words/Greed"

With Words/Greed, Parisian dark punks Bleakness unearth two songs that never made it onto their last full-length, not because they were lacking, but because they demanded their own stage. The A-side, “Words,” was the final track written before the studio sessions, and it burns with the urgency of that closing chapter—a death-rock anthem steeped in tension, melody, and the shadowy energy that has become the band’s hallmark.

On the flip side, “Greed” traces its lineage back to riffs first written during Bleakness’ earliest European tours. The song carries the rawness of those beginnings, echoing the melancholic hardcore punk that radiated from Southern California in the early ’80s. Together, the two tracks showcase the band’s ability to seamlessly fuse post-punk atmospherics with hardcore intensity, refusing to settle neatly into either category.

More than just outtakes, Words/Greed serves as a compact distillation of Bleakness’ creative spectrum—melancholy guitars slicing through high-energy rhythms, carried by a voice that feels both urgent and haunted. It’s a reminder that the band thrives in the liminal space between genres, where darkness and vitality collide.