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GRAVERAPE
Horrors Of Life Eternal

Caverape (2023)
Rating: 7/10

The Detroit, Michigan-based band with the chart-friendly moniker returns from the crypt for another dose of deadly death metal. In 2020 Graverape battered me senseless with their Exhuming Decay debut full-length, which was a brooding mix of 90s Swedish chainsaw nastiness but with doomier segments separated by melodious tinges. The same could be said for this latest effort too as the band unleashes further examples of fury and savagery.

Opener ‘Valley Of Red’ begins in melancholic fashion but soon begins to salivate with its gnashing riffs, while ‘Desecrated Kingdom’ kicks in with an almost punky approach hinting at a d-beat stride married with a Dismember groove. And that’s pretty much the theme throughout but with an extra slurp in the vocals of guitarist Jay Clifton.

Some of the tracks do have a tendency to drag, although the longest cut, ‘Twist Of The Knife’, begins with such an ominous doom trudge before finally kicking in with that aggressive gallop. Elsewhere, numbers such as ‘Serenity In Death’ and ‘For Their Flesh’ follow rather formulaic Swedeath melodies, but the title track offers a fantastic buzzsaw catchiness.

Horrors Of Life Eternal is certainly a solid album, but not the bone shattering response I was expecting. A lot of bands are channeling the done-to-death Swedish influence and I’m not of the opinion that Graverape are doing much that’s any different.

Neil Arnold

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