Wednesday 28 June 2017

Gravewards - Subconscious Lobotomy

GRAVEWARDS - Subconscious Lobotomy (Self released demo MC 2017)
I was contacted recently by one of the members of new Greek band called Gravewards and asked if I would be interested to listen to and review their debut demo. Well, as usually I first checked one song on YT before giving an answer. And damn, I definitely was curious to hear more. And soon later the tape arrived. Good old style way of doing your first recording – a proper demo cassette, not pretending that your first release is an EP, in "digital" / invisible format. "Subconscious Lobotomy" contains four tracks and if you're into old school, traditional death metal, especially if you like when it has certain Massacre stench all over it, then please check this awesome and worthy band now! 
The music is shredding with groovy, slow / mid paced death metal, with great vibe and brutality in every riff Gravewards plays. They're pretty simple, with not so much technical bullshit, song structures are also not so complex, what makes the listening quite easy. Instead, we get groove and quite memorable stuff, which also sounds brutal and powerful – and that's great. I mentioned Massacre and for me this band is the closest comparison. But also the crushing attack of Bolt Thrower, Obituary, Morgoth, Master or Benediction could be a referring point for you. But these are just comparisons. More important is the fact that "Subconscious Lobotomy" really sounds damn good and solid and that I enjoyed this demo a lot. Every song is pretty memorable, their riffs are great... and even the last song "Deathwomb Incubation", which at first I thought wasn't as good as the rest of the material, turned great, due to some pretty nice melodic parts in it. More so, the production is fantastic... and maybe the biggest problem some of you will have are vocals, as they're not quite as brutal and deep growls as maybe they should. I can assure you though that you will get used to them after a while. And more so, they sound really like on some early 90's demos and albums! 
The best song is definitely "Casket Entrapment", you can check it on YT, if you wish... Do so, and then grab one of these 300 tapes for your collection, I recommend it strongly! 
Standout track: "Casket Entrapment" 
Final rate: 70/100 

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