Grave, Burial Ground
Swedish death metal legends Grave couldn’t have picked a better title for their ninth studio album. Burial Ground will be just that — your last resting place on earth after these guys get done pummeling you with one of their best albums in a while (even 2008’s Dominion VIII which I liked alot).
The band’s patented high-tempo brashness is back in full force as they cruise through crushing riffs, suffocating guitar tones and a bestial attack from the rhythm section. Each song on this album has that classic Grave vibe, but are delivered with a greater sense of urgency and power than we’re used to from the band. If you haven’t considered this Swedish band of maniacs one of the big ones yet, then this album is sure to push you over the edge in their favor. Throw this disc in your stereo and hang the fuck on.
Liberation
Grave kick off the album in style with “Liberation,” a blasting death metal track if ever there was one. The riffs are evil as hell and the drum work is unrelenting while Lindgren delivers ferocious barks and growls with vehemence. This is one of the shortest songs on the album at 3:39 in length, but no less powerful or memorable. There’s a good head banging groove about half way through that’s damned catchy.
Semblance in Black
Man, the opening to this next track is blistering to say the least with pile-driving drums, sick guitars and vicious growls. The overall vibe to this song is covered in a great layer of texture and static as the guitars chainsaw away at your skull with reckless abandon. The pace slows temporarily to allow for a crushing, doomy feel from the guitars before descending into maddening leads and crashing drums.
Dismembered Mind
This six minute long monster starts off a bit slower over the first minute or so, but quickly picks up with more buzzsaw guitars and barbaric drumming to accompany Lindgren’s barks and growls. Man, this is a beast of an album. The lead around 4:18 is short but sweet and leads into more massive rhythms and buzzing guitars. For such a long song this one flies by quicker than all get out.
Ridden With Belief
The reverb that ends the previous track transitions smoothly into “Ridden With Belief” that has a catchy, Slayer-like riff that fades in from the murky depths. I love the opening series of riffs and slow build-up of this song. The vocals are burly and delivered with purpose as the slower pace moves along with a crushing, head-banging groove. The band eventually ramp up the tempo and energy a little before the two minute mark with bludgeoning drums and quick riffing.
Conquerer
More groove oriented guitars get this next track off to a smooth start as steady drumming pushes us along before upping the temp a bit. The fuzz that covers the guitars throughout the album add a nice denseness to each song— without aping some of their death metal cohorts. The lead at 3:10 is a nice break of pace while the rest of the band has slowed things down to a bruising crawl.
Outcast
Equaling the opening track in berevity, “Outcast” is the other shortest track on the album, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t hit like a tun of bricks right from the start. Grave don’t fuck around with this song, opening up with snarling guitars, barking growls and manic drums that don’t let up for a moment, pummeling your cranial cavity to a misshapen form in just over three minutes time.
Sexual Mutilation
For as quickly paced as that previous track was, the band crank it up even more with “Sexual Mutilatioin,” adding in even more dense guitars and thick rhythms. This is a burly song that is suffocating in its overall feel. This is one of those songs that I just can’t keep from playing over and over — t’s just got the right vibe for me, despite the lyrical content.
Bloodtrail
I could have sworn that the band had already released this song (and video) with their last album, but a quick glance back reveals that it was a song called “Bloodpath.” This is “Bloodtrail.” My bad. At any rate, this is a pretty good song in its own right. It’s a bit slower paced than most of the material on this album, but there’s nothing wrong with that. The song serves as a nice segue from the constant barrage of flying buzzsaws before the epic, crawling title track closes out the album.
Burial Ground
Starting off with a little atmospheric noise and light guitar for the first 30 seconds or so the band open it up a bit with massive, doom filled riffs that chug along like some monstrosity crossing the dark countryside. The slower pace to the first part of this song adds a nice ominous and devious feel. The half way point really slows down to just a decent, plodding riff and church bells added in for good measure (we’re almost at funeral doom pace here). Man, this is a big song with a vibe that’s much different than the rest of the album (vocals and all) that really sets it apart. It’s a great way to end out a damn good album.
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Additional Notes:
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