Sadist

Spawn of the never tame Norwegian black scene, Gravdal succeed in the not easy task to write a true black metal album without compromises and without being boring.

Foreseeable maybe, but not boring, since even if the album is run through a certain sense of deja-vu, the writing skills are such to maintain all very fresh and spontaneous. The sound, helped by a truly fitting production, comes out of the stereo very rotten and rough, but the compositions are never a simple exhibition of cacophony: the tracks are all rather elaborated and never too minimal, and cleverly move among frontal attack songs and mid tempo walks.

The band it's easier to compare them with is that of Carpathian Forest, for the coarse and pseudo rock'n'roll attitude of certain tracks, even if all is soaked into that morbid sick atmosphere that only the best black can have. An exciting start, not only for fans of the black flame.

Originally Written For Silent Scream http://www.silentscreamzine.com/Home.asp?Lang=ENG

Whow, this is most definitely Norwegian black metal. The sound, the tunes, the vocals… Everything just reeks of Norway, and not in a bad way. It’s a good stink this time around. Some black metal bands fall flat when trying too hard to achieve that genuine Norwegian sound, and in many cases they just wind up with awful sound quality and a bunch of run-in-the-mill songs. But Gravdal pulls it off with a natural sound.

Starting the album off is a quite uninteresting intro that does nothing to build up expectations or emotions, and is more or less just two minutes of dead air. But don’t be fooled, ‘cause what sets in afterwards is one of the greatest black metal debut albums I’ve heard in a long time.

Galge’s vocal efforts are magnificent, as he carries that harsh and grim scream that sounds oh-so-brutal when in his native tongue. And fortunately it’s all in their native tongue. The riffing carries a certain amount of melody, while still remaining within the old school aura. It’s harsh and raw, yet still melodic. There’s a great deal of tempo changes to keep things interesting, as blasting and brutality can be vigilant one moment, only to be replaced by a slow and agonized section of dissonant (in a good way) strings and marvelous melody up the yin yang. There are tons of twists and turns that keeps you on your feet, but they never step too far off the platform to stumble into the swamp of progressiveness. Both guitars and bass are fully audible, and interact perfectly with the great drumming. And sound-wise it fits like a tailor-made glove; remaining cold and grim but with a good sound quality.

My favourite track is without a doubt Lidelse, as it contains an incredible chorus that I can’t help but to sing along to. They’ve added an acoustic guitar to the intro, just lurking there in the background, and I can almost imagine an entire horn section enter the field to play along. Although there are no horns, it just has that schizophrenic atmosphere that could’ve pulled it off. Fans of the old school Norwegian black sound will probably get a kick, as well as fans of Craft and the likes. If Gravdal keeps this up they’re on to greatness.

Originally written for http://www.mylastchapter.net