Metal From The Crypt
Black metal has become the new thrash. As bizarre as this statement sounds a once underground genre of metal has exploded from the gutters of Europe. As forerunners of this symphonic-fuelled blitz are Britain’s own Cradle Of Filth and Norwegian giants Dimmu Borgir whilst in the background the more stripped-down vintage sounds of Satryicon and the legendary granddaddies Darkthrone sit back with wicked grins on their faces.
Italy’s Graveworm are musically as sick as their namesake, employing jarring guitars against the sub-human vocals of Stefan Fiori with splashes of melody. Before thinking Graveworm are like their fellow countrymen Lacuna Coil, this is the kind of melodic keyboards that are the backdrop against the horror show of the mammoth record.
It would be narrow minded to compare Graveworm to Cradle Of Filth as musically great minds think alike, but whilst Cradle have a somewhat operatic aura about them Graveworm seem to be more primal and stripped down in delivery.
Songs like "Timeless" and "Never Enough" have old school thrash metal flirtations. Intros to songs like "Deep Inside" are enough to give a shiver down one’s spine and the images of inverted crosses don’t seem to far away.
For only nine tracks this album is nothing short of epic in substance and in style. This album would not be out of place in house of horrors although the album does not push boundaries, as the bar to make music more extreme always seems to be raised. For a black metal album it’s no modern classic but for fans of the extreme music it will keep them happy.