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GRAVEWITCH “Gravewitch”
GRAVEWITCH “Gravewitch”
By Dr. Abner Mality
GRAVEWITCH is composed of two headbangers from Bend, Oregon who decided to join the endless tide of underground metal bands bubbling up across the globe. Can they make a mark?
Although the album is enjoyable and professionally done, it takes a mighty force indeed to break through the digital ocean and I can’t say this is that force. It doesn’t possess the insanity, the originality or the blazing intensity to cut through the murk. No shame in that, as they are still ahead of much of the pack. The fellows favor a melodic mix of thrash, black metal and melodic death metal, a stew that is becoming more popular. They lean a bit more towards the black side than anything else. Overall, I get a feeling of SKELETONWITCH about the whole affair…more extreme than standard metal, but not too over the top. There’s a kind of smoothness to the production which takes rough edges off and I think the record needed more of that rough edge.
That notwithstanding, GRAVEWITCH can deliver some strong metal tunes. I liked the thrash influenced straightforward attack of “Ritual Reanimation” and “Systematic Fallout”, both of which really rage. “Atmospheric Alterations” has a cool kind of black metal melodicism that sticks in the head, a characteristic amplified on “Woodland Trance”. The earliest tracks, “Damnable Evil” and “Phantasm”, seem very generic to me and just kind of float without lasting impact.
There’s enough promise here for GRAVEWITCH to build upon…this is just a debut, after all…but it’s not exactly news that they will be swimming up the stream with thousands of other bands.
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