EARTHEN GRAVE
Earthen Grave is a doom metal band hailing from the Windy City, home of my beloved Chicago Bears. Hovewer, Earthen Grave is far from just a simple doom metal band, and you don’t even have to like the genre itself to find this enjoyable. There is so much heavy, thrashy and an overall dark atmosphere present in this selftitled fulllength debut, that it will satisfy the bloodlust of any metal fan. When Earthen Grave sticks into a groove, it is usually centered on a midtoslow paced riff with an insanely crunchy guitar tone that is just right for oldschool heavy metal. This discernible crunch tone substantially adds power to the songs. Rachel Barton Pine’s violin is then on fire here. Her work is stellar and her moody, shredding and mournful soloing takes the material to the next level. She puts on a clinic across all the tracks and I was left highly impressed with the emotions her playing conveys. In addition, Mark Weiner’s vocals are rather unique, not very forceful but he is able to deliver a good melody line into the songs. Overall, this is a first class doom metal release with plenty of outstanding songs featured on it. No selfrespecting metal fan should be without this album. EARTHEN GRAVE Earthen Grave Claude + Elmo Music 2013 (Reissue) Composition:
Arrangement: Performance: Production:
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