Grave Expectations
'As Rapture Comes' is Grave's 7th full-length release, and I have to confess this is the first time the band have crossed my path. Sometimes one has to hold one's hands up and apologise to the extreme metal fans reading this review. Although I may not have been up to date with this Swedish death metal crew, and arguably one of the most influential death metal bands of all time, I can at least listen to their new album objectively, even if I can't compare this long player to the rest of their discography.
The album follows 'Fiendish Regression' and is the 3rd album the band has recorded since their hiatus between 1996 and 2002. A pretty pointless forty-nine second intro makes way for 'Burn', and the first thing that hits you is the lush thickness of the guitars. I've listened to many death metal albums, and I don't think I've heard such a fat sounding guitar as those contained on 'As Rapture Comes.' The production is enormous, without any aspect of the recording being more prominent than the others. The de-tuned guitars could be playing through treacle amps the sound is that thick. A signature of Grave's song writing is their slow, mammoth riffs, and 'As Rapture Comes' doesn't disappoint. It's nice to hear a death metal take the time to slow the tempos down, giving the music that extra dimension. The opening bars of 'Through Eternity' simply thump through your chest, and would probably resuscitate a cardiac-arrest victim in the throes of death. Playing fast and then slowing the music down into some heavy riffage is a simple but effective song-writing trick. It just so happens to be one of this reviewers favourite musical crafts, which is probably why this album appeals to me.
The death/black metal blast beats are still prevalent, but it's the constant barrage of colossal riffs that makes this album. 'By Demons Bred' and especially 'Living the dead behind' are brutal lessons in aggressive music, and shows what can be achieved when minds are put to the task. Vocalist Ola Lindgren growls and howls, venting his hatred and anger in an extremely palatable way. His huge voice fits the music perfectly, and makes way for the immense guitar work and, what can only be described as, crazy solos.
'Battle of Eden' is another highlight with its mid paced delivery. A sign of maturity perhaps? The guitar break at the two-minute mark is great piece of song writing. Not only is it slow and brutal, but also it comes at the right time in the song, before speeding up for the end. 'Epic Obliteration' puts the drummer through his paces, but it is on the band's faster moments that cause the sound to mush together. The parts suddenly become indiscernible, but this is purely down to the style of production, which seems to have been purposely made for the bands slow attack. The song slows down beautifully at the 1:45 mark, and then pummels your brain with another obese chugger once more.
There's an odd cover of Alice in Chain's song 'Them Bones' contained on this album. Of course the band have brutalised the track, putting extra pace in the main riff and plenty of meat into the verse and chorus parts. The title track rounds off this chunk of heavy metal, and is another strong cut. From a Grave beginners perspective, 'As Rapture Comes' is wonderfully sounding savage record, brimming with great slow plodding ideas, a characteristic sadly lacking in many of today's metal genres. After reading up on the band, there is a general consensus that, although this album is strong, it's not as good as there first couple of records. If this is case then a quick call to my local metal shop is in order. A highly impressive block of thrash.