Grave - As Rapture Comes
- Released: 2006
- Label: Century Media
- Rating:
Grave is one of those death metal bands grown on Swedish soil that has stood in the shadow of their bigger brothers, Entombed, for over 15 years. Why is that so? When Grave released their masterpiece debut album back in the dawn of the 90’s I was pretty sure that they were about to be the next big thing in death metal, but it didn’t happen. People I have talked with that were involved with the band around that time told me under the table that there were disagreements in the band on how to handle the good response that they recieved for Into the Grave. A few wanted to stay “true” to the underground while others wanted to ride the tide of fame that was rising in front of them. They couldn’t agree on which way to go, so they waited in some sort of limbo – not underground, not among the stars. They just roamed on and released records. Unlike their brethren in Entombed, they still fight under the flag of death metal.
The albums featuring Jörgen Sandström are classics to me. After his departure after Soulless in ‘93 I was ready to eat my shorts if they continued. Man, was I eating shorts when they released Hating Life in ‘96. Unlike many others, I find that album to be one of their best. After that, they released a live album, and then that was it.
In 2002, I was eating my shorts again.
As Rapture Comes is the third release since the 2002 comeback and it delivers pretty much what you’d expect. The opening intro is pretty much a 49 second waste of time, but then some good stuff happens. The guitar production is fatter than Bam Margera’s uncle…fat as in FATASS! Peter Tägtgren of Abyss Studios really hit the button with the production this time. The album is an overall good death metal album. You’ll find blastbeats and you’ll find FATASS midtempo songs. The parts I like most are the slower, almost doomier passages which make me add the fourth star to the rating. I can’t really pick out any standout tracks since it’s a very solid album. If I had to I would pick “The Battle of Eden” because it represents the whole album in one song. “Battle of Eden” includes fast, medium and slow parts and also the album’s coolest riff! Their cover of Alice in Chains’ “Them Bones” is not my cup of tea but it’s a fun cover to pick for a death metal band. If you want some Swedish death metal released this year I recommend this album. It’s a solid six feet under metal!
Pils | 08/04/2006