
The album is a step up from the band’s debut full-length “Persecution of the Living”, however obscure or fast and brutal, Grave Infestation boosts the gloomy atmosphere right from the opening track “Living Inhumation”. The rhythm guitar sends chills down your spine; the highly textured work of the guitars fully explodes with faster-paced tempos and riffs packing a bludgeoning fist from the drums.
“Carnage Gathers” heaves in an obscured manner with tempos offering a variety of paces in the album, the drums are relentlessly driven with hammering double bass, and you can expect plenty of crushing tempos in the following song “Ritualized Autopsy”. There is a kind of uniqueness in the tone of the vocals, spewing dark and morbid poetry that glorifies death.
However, the fast tempos also highlight the work of drums but most importantly how Grave Infestation keeps its niche fixated on old-school death metal. Gloomy while sounding catchy the guitars set a frightening aura, the songs and the tone of the drums have a crushing range. Grave Infestation takes a cavernous style in the sophomore, the drum makes fast and sudden transitions between the tempos; even when the drums rumble at a slower pace, the band sounds utterly slow.
“Inhuman Remains” brings notable variations in the tone of the guitars, the song begins with tremolo pickings, and slowly the music descends into the murky waters of death/doom. The drum bombards the ears with propelling blast beats and takes all aspects of being brutal and slow.
The main riffs of the songs stemming from these two genres are combined with low ghoulish vocals to capture the doomy atmosphere and reeking of morbid wickedness. The grimy atmosphere is another highlight of this album, but at the same time, Grave Infestation dips your ears through the no-frills brand of ultra-classic death metal.
The album is inspired by Asphyx’s early albums like “The Rack” when the rhythm guitars boom in total gloom, showing how the guitars can provide some chilling brooding moments. Unfortunately, these moments seem to pass only to be tinged with a whip of brutality; there are no growls in the album, instead you’ll hear torturous wailing vocals in tracks like “Black Widow” and “The Anthropophagus”.
These two tracks manage to creep your soul and the vocals carry its hideous style of basement-styled howls and even its somber rhythms, the riffs are laden with punky-edged riffs. Slamming and grooving guitars thrashing out some explosive drum beats and guitars conveying the affection of 80s death metal reach the apex and churning riffs are among the features of “Carnage Gathers”.
The style of death metal conveyed in the sophomore is quite fresh, but it also takes the old-school flair and crafts something unique to fans of Autopsy, Nihilist, and, Repugnant. Such style will freshen up your memory, with the punky death metal slab adding a dark aura to the album’s title track. Grave Infestation brings the thrills by sounding raw, energetic, and sometimes even unpredictable; the songwriting of tracks like “Drenched in Blood” is genuine.
The production set a formulaic vibe for their songs to sound fast, relentless, and slow, grimy, mid-paced. This approach is brilliantly conveyed in the final track, “Murder Spree”. The savage fury of the drums follows the repulsive guitar tone; the riffs are played fast between thrashy death metal and coupled with organic drum beats, resulting in aggressive and doomy sections including some haunting guitar work.
REVIEW SCORE
8 | “Grave Infestation” bombards you from every direction, whether it’s death/doom metal or thrashing punk old school that complements some obscure Swedish death metal bands. |
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