Grave have been re-animated for about six years now and this is the fourth album they’ve released in that time. Unlike Unleashed Grave have hung a bit closer to their original style.
This is fast, dirty, old-school Stockholm death metal in the vein of early Entombed, Dismember etc. This is the one failing this album has to be honest. In trying to stay true to the old days they got a production that is trying to sound like Tomas Skogsberg but doesn’t really come close. Instead of sounding dirty this just sound muddy, in fact it sounds somewhat like everything does when I wear earplugs. That aside the songs are quite good. They don’t get fancy or anything, this is just fast and raw death metal from the early years.
Ola Lindgren sounds just as good as he ever did, both on vocals and guitar. There isn’t much fanciness here; they just want to rip your face off at maximum velocity. The solos are the best part for the guitar because they can actually be heard, but they tend to be quite noisy and fast, which is how I tend to prefer them. The rhythm section gets a bit buried in the mix, then again just about everything does.
In spite of the artificially bad production this is still a pretty solid record. It’s not their best but it’s worth searching through the mire for.
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As far as the more recent albums go, I much prefer As Rapture Comes to this one – it just seems to be lacking something that one had, but I don’t quite know what.
on Jun 23rd, 2008 at 10:55I enjoyed the first comeback album, Back from the Dead, but FIendish Regression, As Rapture Comes and this have done nothing for me- and i love Grave. Jorgen must have been the key for me-maybe why i like The Project Hate so much more than Grave now
on Jun 23rd, 2008 at 11:49No Jörgen, No Grave
on Jun 23rd, 2008 at 16:56Pretty much a spot on review, no filler/bullshit, just a short but sweet summary. Personally I’m still trying to let this one sink in on me. The production really does turn me off on this album but that is really my only complaint.
on Jun 23rd, 2008 at 17:17I have yet to hear the first two “comeback” albums – I need to get on that. Honestly, outside of these two most recent, the only ones I’ve heard are Soulless once or twice and Hating Life (which I fucking love, thanks to you, Erik).
on Jun 23rd, 2008 at 18:57Staylow…
You need to get “Into The Grave” and “You’ll Never See…” pronto!
on Jun 24th, 2008 at 14:50Absolutely-“In Love” from Into the Grave and the title track from Youll Never See are still two of my fave dm songs ever.
on Jun 24th, 2008 at 14:57Never liked Ola. Jorgen made this band, one of the best growlers ever. Still, I like their comeback record and this one’s not so bad. Nothing quite like the records with Sandstrom though.
on Jun 25th, 2008 at 18:02