With the sinister artwork for this release, I was expecting a darker experience from this Swedish band. However, what you end up with is traditional metal in modern terms, taking their inspiration from Priest and Accept and I have actually found Gravebreaker to be on a similar path to fellow countrymen Witch Blade, but Gravebreaker sing in English.
Songs like ‘Sacrifice’, ‘Kill and Kill Again’, ‘Road War 2000’ are highlights, taking the mid paced speed and metal into orbit, similar to Cauldron I suppose, especially in the production. The vocals sound distant and overall the sound is modern vintage if you take my meaning. The added extra with Gravebreaker is the heavy use of keyboards for parts of the tracks as well as being the basis for many of what would be guitar solos. I do miss some wailing guitars, they do appear, but only for a short period of time on certain tracks.
‘Messenger of Death’ works more so with the keyboards, adding a synth, almost 70’s sci-fi movie vibe and overall a decent release in fairness, with expected but classic metal tunes to keep the current fan happy. But with a slightly damp production quality, I can’t help thinking they need to up their game with the studio dynamics to contend with some of their peers.
(7/10 Paul Maddison)
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