30 years on from forming, Graveworm now release their ninth album. My time of listening to this band was in the 00s with the releases of “Engraved in Black” (2003) and (N)utopia (2005), both of which form part of my collection. With striking album covers and solid metal songs, I remember them as a sort of gothic Hypocrisy in sound and ambience. After that point they went off my radar. They have released four further albums, the last one being “Ascending Hate” in 2015.
The build-up is dramatic. Graveworm haven’t lost the art of soaring pomp. The sound is large. Heaviness abounds. “We Are the Resistance” starts with a black metal edge, but it’s soon back to the driving force metal at which they are specialists. The melodic backbone is typically solid. The song flows. “Wicked Mind” has a harder edge. The style is a mix of death and thrash with a heavy constant air of gothic running through. “Wicked Mind” drops the thrash momentarily to concentrate on plunging darkness. Graveworm’s symphonic sound is at its most evident on “If the World Shut Down”, another hammering and roaring slab of darkness. “Dead Words” and “Where Agony Prevails” emphasise the hype and epically dramatic side of Graveworm. I came to realise that this album is in essence a collection of lofty cameos with the dual death vocals supporting the fiery storm around them. The metal pumps, and pumps and pumps out like lava coming out of a volcano. But whether it’s “End of Time” or “Wrath of Gods” we’re talking about, the effect is the same. “In Honour of the Fallen” follows the same general pattern but features a reflective guitar section which nicely rounds off the album and enhances the sense of tragedy depicted earlier in the song.
This is one of those albums where I found that my experience was not enhanced by listening to it repeatedly. The sound quality and structures are good, and it’s clear that every ounce of energy has gone into these blood-and-thunder songs. I guess my criticism is that whilst a trademark sound is an attracting point of identity, these songs broadly all have the same characteristics and the same end point. But if epic, bombastic symphonically-orientated gothic death metal is your thing, you can wallow in it with Graveworm.
(7/10 Andrew Doherty)
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