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GRAVEGOD
Promised Graveland

SoundAge Productions (2022)
Rating: 6.5/10

Russian deathsters Gravegod certainly capture the attention with that lurid cover art, and thankfully they appeal musically too. This is the debut full-length from this four-piece from Moscow who announce themselves via the melodic strains of opener ‘Lead Them To (Grave)-God’, but what’s immediately apparent with this record is my conflict with the vocals. Ivan Shirokov quite often drifts towards goregrind aesthetics, those irritating comedy grunts which become an instrument in themselves. However, beyond such negatives the combo still provides chunky death metal that works, especially if the vocals take on a more formulaic grunt and bellow.

Some of the lead guitar work from Vyacheslav Chepelev is impressive, winding effortlessly through the gnashing riffage and there’s plenty of tempo variety too, as displayed with that opener and my favourite track ‘Endless Catacombs Of Innards’ which drips with atmosphere and menace before the blasts of hostility re-emerge.

Gravegod has found its own sound to some extent. ‘If These Graves Could Speak’ jars with abrasive power, and ‘Entrails Of Earth’ provides numerous hectic percussive flurries. Imagine then a vocalist whose tone is less garble and more grotesque, but as it stands we get a death metal act that delivers musically but becomes a generic mess vocally. It’s a shame, but I doubt they’ll care.

Neil Arnold

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