GRAVEMASS

GRAVEMASS     "This Is The Way"

By Dr. Abner Mality

In the late 80's and very early 90's, in the halcyon years before cold winds blew in from Scandinavia, black metal and death metal were sometimes virtually the same thing. I think of DEICIDE, VITAL REMAINS and ACHERON. This Canadian band is a throwback to those days, playing a basic but very catchy form of death while going overboard with the Satanic shtick. It winds up being kind of fun and the cartoon blasphemy, devoid of grand philosophy, is nostalgic.

When you have band members called "Lorde Heathen" and "Bowels of Hell", you know what you're in for. Some of these guys did time in 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, REVOCATION and ZIMMERS HOLE, so I'm guessing GRAVEMASS is a way for them to blow off sinister steam. The songs rarely exceed the 3 minute mark and the album comes in at a brisk 29 minutes, so they're smart enough not to overdo things.

"Slaves To Pain" kicks things off with a simple thick chug that is irresistibly catchy, kind of like a better SIX FEET UNDER. The sound is thick and meaty with a great bottom end. Some of these tracks have riffs that just grab you by the neck and make you bow to the Devil's music. "Harvest of Souls" will ignite a pit in record time with its fierce gallop and "Spitting Hell" ups the ante with speed (but not blasting speed). Vocalist Lorde Heathen ranges from a bellowing croak to ferocious harsh rasps and sometimes even spoken word. "Black Bell" is a slower track with a great menacing plod. 

A couple of cuts like "Horned King" and, ironically, "Gravemass" come across as pretty generic and uninspired, but I have to admit, as overdone as the Devil worship stuff is, most of this album kicks ass. It's really efficient, too...breaks down the door, fucks shit up, leaves in a hurry. I'll bet these guys are a ton of filthy fun live!

GRAVEMASS