{"id":10675,"date":"2013-02-15T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T00:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=10675"},"modified":"2013-06-01T14:50:03","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T14:50:03","slug":"album-review-witchgrave-witchgrave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-witchgrave-witchgrave\/","title":{"rendered":"WITCHGRAVE – Witchgrave (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

WITCHGRAVE
Witchgrave<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nHigh Roller (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Marching from the dungeons of Sweden come Witchgrave, who, on the back of their 2010 EP The Devil\u2019s Night<\/em>, have returned with this self-titled eight-tracker. Witchgrave are another band who are very much high of the 1980s, with dark tales of sorcery and black witchery, fronted by a vocalist (Joakim Norberg) who sounds as if he\u2019s drenched his vocal chords in lighter fluid and set them ablaze.<\/p>\n

Despite clocking in at just over 30 minutes, Witchgrave<\/em> is a fine record that isn\u2019t afraid to pay homage to all manner of old school metal bands, whether it\u2019s the galloping thunder horse that is Iron Maiden, or Euro thrash combined with rusty Mot\u00f6rhead.<\/p>\n

The four-piece are very much stuck in that 80s vein of heavy metal, but thankfully this isn\u2019t simply done for nostalgia purposes. Opener \u2018Raising Hell\u2019 has all the clamour of Venom. It rattles on a Sven Nilsson drum thud and twin guitar speed metal attack \u2013 Tobbe Ander and Gabriel Forslund have clearly spent too long listening to old Destruction<\/a> and Sodom records, while Norberg gives Cronos (Venom) a run for his money with those throaty rasps.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s be nothing fancy about Witchgrave<\/em>; it\u2019s the sort of album that does exactly what it says on the tin. \u2018The Virgin Must Die\u2019 features a killer hook which has all the crusty quality of a NWOBHM groove, steeped in that Iron Maiden-esque glory. Album closer \u2018Shun The Light\u2019 is equally mesmeric, beginning life as a doomy dirge before rushing headlong into a blistering solo.<\/p>\n

Norberg\u2019s vocals certainly add an extra oily element to proceedings, his venomous snarl a fine example of what is missing from so many of today\u2019s bands who seem to lack the attitude and guile to shine. \u2018The Last Supper\u2019 is a battering ram of a track; pure satanic rock \u2019n\u2019 roll that features a festering guitar shake and hurtling drum.<\/p>\n

These Swedes are the sort of band that will appeal to anyone seeking an unhealthy dose of black \u2019n\u2019 roll, and if, like me, you\u2019re swayed by Darkthrone<\/a>\u2019s last batch of crust-fests and you like your metal primitive yet seething with attitude, then Witchgrave deserve your attention. Whether such a sound and style can last for more than a couple of albums remains to be seen, as only Mot\u00f6rhead have spent so long churning out similar rhythms without drastic change, but for Witchgrave this is where the challenge lies. So many bands are wearing their influences on their sleeve, but can they outlast the trend to be worthy contenders to the next vacant metal throne? For similar blackened metal, check out Cleveland, Ohio\u2019s Midnight and their 2011 opus Satanic Royalty<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WITCHGRAVEWitchgrave High Roller (2013)Rating: 7.5\/10 Marching from the dungeons of Sweden come Witchgrave, who, on the back of their 2010 EP The Devil\u2019s Night, have returned with this self-titled eight-tracker. Witchgrave are another band who are very much high of the 1980s, with dark tales of sorcery and black witchery, fronted by a vocalist (Joakim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-witchgrave"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10675"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12090,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10675\/revisions\/12090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}