Collateral Defect

What is Collateral Defect? The real question is actually what isn't it, existing as an absolute off-the-wall mishmash of random styles rarely fused in such a manner. Such inability to adhere to a singular template essentially defines modern Graveworm as we know them, but this truly raised the bar anew and crushed what little hope remained for the band after the pretty decent (N)Utopia. A sizable aggregate of that Agathodaimon-esque melodic black/gothic integration is carried over and remains a large cog of the sound, but in creep even more modern influences with the acquisition of guitarist Orgler Thomas, who was clearly cut from a different cloth than the other members (also being younger). This could have resulted in an engaging and unique affair, and while Collateral Defect enjoys a character all its own, that idiosyncrasy has earned it heaps of scorn both then and now.

To return to my initial point, what exactly is this supposed to be? Rhythms are clumsy and top-heavy, chugging along like a modern melodeath band while Sabine Mair tries her hardest to coat the entire mess in a desolate glaze redolent of some of the band's earlier "classics." This all comes to a brow-furling head on the egregious "Fragile Side," which sounds like Killswitch Engage or All That Remains with a keyboardist stumbling around in the background somewhere. Sound like a mess? Well, on an ideological level it is, but that doesn't mean that Graveworm don't manage to make it at least listenable. And that holds true for most of the record as far as I am concerned, despite how misguided it may seem on an ephemeral level. In fact, anyone even remotely familiar with Graveworm post-Engraved in Black should already be acclimated to such fucking weirdness. I guess I can count myself among them, because when the cover of Bonnie Tyler's "I Need a Hero" came down the pike upon first listening, I just shrugged it off as "Graveworm being Graveworm." Absolutely ridiculous.

But I guess I might as well address the undeniable metal tracks here, which range from sterile and futile death metal posturing ("Touch of Hate") to half-baked melodic/gothic black metal that sounds plastic and forced ("Bloodwork"). This is where Thomas rears his head again, as he clearly bears the brunt of the songwriting burden, and to his credit there are plenty of meaty, stout riffing arrangements that cycle in and out between Mair's surprisingly cheap sounding synths and Fiori's typically suffocating vocal presence. The biggest problem is that this flies in the face of Graveworm's core sound (or whatever is left of it). Oil and water isn't even an apt-enough correlation to draw, as one can audibly hear these two polar extremes resisting contact every time the band forces them together like two opposing magnets. The worst this really gets is on "Scars of Sorrow," which is full of gaping holes and has nothing going for it other than some half-decent rhythm work near the middle.

And to think that this wasn't the lowest point the band reached with this lineup. Fragments of Death is definitely way worse, but at least I know what to categorize that as. To Collateral Defect's credit, it isn't nearly as bad as I remember it being years back, and I definitely think there are a few decent-ish tracks throughout this thing. It just lacks direction in a big way, a point punctuated by the instrumental closer "Memories." Okay, let's have Sabine do her best to craft a morose soundscape with strings alongside an acoustic guitar; but that isn't enough, we need to put bleeping video game sonar noises all over the place in an arbitrary manner. The fuck is this shit, and why do I not hate it!?

It looks like Graveworm has finally shit on itself. If you remember (N)Utopia I think we all saw this coming, but there's always a chance that a band can come out and surprise everyone; unfortunately, the release of Collateral Defect has put Graveworm beyond a point of salvation. I don't know if they'll ever recover.

Collateral Defect is essentially a poor man's (N)Utopia with more (unintended) jokes and mediocre songwriting. I found that most tracks all have the same bland formula and because of that, they are now harder to discern than ever. The riffs do very little for me; much of this sounds like borderline nu metal as I finish listening to these songs to see only how empty they are. There is little effort in making any sort of variation going on. I feel like Graveworm put in effort to make 2-3 decent songs, but wanted to make a full length album so they put in all this filler to justify its release. As a big fan of random instrumentals, even the two they used here are so boring and sort of just 'there". How disappointing. Another ridiculous aspect is the use of hardcore vocals on "Fragile Side." How arbitrary, insulting, and unfitting for anyone who once enjoyed the integrity behind Graveworm....Who were they trying to please?


If you thought the song-writing was bad, some of the lyrics are painful to read and hear. Were the band members hanging out with bullied high-school students who wanted to take poetry courses? Look at tracks like "Touch of Hate" - there is so much angst and juvenile amatuerism! It's so ridiculous that it's almost amusing. Worse, you can't really ignore the lyrics. Fiori's vocals still sound clear enough so you can at least get the gist of what's going on. Normally I don't care about lyrics, but when the crappiness is this prevalant, then it's a bother.

In 10 years, the only thing people might remember this album for is the weird cover of Bonnie Tyler's "I Need a Hero." Graveworm tracks the song pretty well, adjusting the ideas from the original to fit the stale style Graveworm has used on Collateral Defect. Now I wouldn't really recommend this song for enjoyment, but it's interesting to see that some metal band actually covered a song like that. Show it to your friends to make them laugh or give a grotesque "WTF?" facial expression.

Collateral Defect is essentially Graveworm minus the serene symphonic elements, minus that articulate gothic atmosphere, minus the dramatic songs, plus a whole level of mediocrity and amateur song writing. It's a real shame that a once decent band has put an album like this out...Maybe we'll see them at the MTV music awards in a couple of years. It's not the worst album I've ever heard, but there isn't anything here that is in anyway good.

Well folks. You guessed it. These guys finally threw down and jumped on the trend-wagon like 90% of all other bands. Like the previous review I once considered Graveworm as one of the best symphonic metal acts out there. But "Nutopia" scared me quite a bit. There are about 2 songs on that album that I can tolerate. And now we have this... I bought this CD with the hope that maybe they had returned to their original sound. But it was confirmed upon listening that they had just done the opposite, and further stupified their music. I blame the change on the addition of their new guitarist who seems to have no songwriting talent (or guitar skills for that matter). Chugging riffs and simple un-inspiring melodies plague this album. The return of their drummer Innerblicher marks a slight improvement (he is a solid drummer). However, out of the 10 tracks 4 of them are useless. 2 CRAPPY instrumentals, one horrendous cover of "I need a hero" (is this a joke?), and the tune featuring some whiny metalcore dick (It's like Cradle of filth all over again). The other 6 are good if you like "Nutopia".

Don't get me started on the lyrics... "nutopia" was almost entirely written by the 'imposter' (as I call the new guitarist). Horrible lyrics. "Hate is what I feel" crap. Really? Hate is what you feel? Well I'm friggin' TERRIBLY sorry to hear that! Oh dear, what are we to do now? Seriously... I made the mistake of supporting this band by purchasing their CD, but now I wish I had downloaded it. They do not deserve support anymore if they refuse to put out quality music. Take this one with a grain of salt.

Graveworm made a considerable impression on me when I first heard their "As the Angels reach the Beauty" album. They established themselves as one of the greatest symphonic black metal bands in my book with their majestic riffs, excellent song writing and fantastic vocals. Over the years they unfortunately took a turn for the worse, and each album they released since then has exponentially grown worse.

Fast-forward 8 years, and here we have their 2007 release "Collateral Defect", which I'm sure disappointed long-term Graveworm fans even further around the globe. This is no longer the fantastic symphonic black metal band I once knew, it is almost like they caught the same mainstream plague that rots Dimmu Borgir. Graveworm somehow lost all of their song-writing ability, and all tracks on this album reek of amateurism. Chug-a-lug riffs, unimaginative use of synths, and "As I Lay Daying-esque" rhythms infest this album. All of the songs are simple and predictable with "verse / chorus / verse" structures, and they sound as if they were written for the brain-dead goth/hardcore monkeys who attend Ozzfest.

Not to mention they actually had the nerve to feature some hardcore guest vocalist on "Fragile Side". I refuse to research who this bastard is but basically he sounds like the vocalist from "Everytime I Die". Yes, it is that ridiculous.

This is basically the shitty sequel to "(N)utopia", and it's almost as unlistenable as Cradle of Filth. Overall if you appreciate the older Graveworm material and genuine symphonic black metal, don't bother with this at all or you will be sorely disappointed. If you want to invest in 'gothcore nu-black metal' shit, then be my guest and waste your money on this filth.