National Music Reviews
Grave
Out Of Respect For The Dead
Century Media
Street: 10.16
Grave = Entombed (old) + Dismember + Unleashed
Grave have stayed mostly consistent in putting out grizzled, buzz-saw-guitar toned, low-end death metal albums, give or take a few. The best thing about Out Of Respect For The Dead is that it sounds like it could have been the followup to ’91’s Into the Grave. The production, powerful riffing and blissfully dynamic songwriting that all yell old-school rotting death metal is here. It’s serious riffing and songs that will stick to your skull like there is a nail driven through it, such as “Plain Pine Box” and “Flesh Before My Eyes.”
The drum tone is the least diverse performance on the record, though it’s meant to be—it has that raw, organic sound that keeps Grave 2015 sounding like classic Grave. “Redeemed Through Hate” grabs the listener and never lets go. This is the best of the new-era Grave with Ola Lindgren further proving he’s one of the masters of death metal. –Bryer Wharton