Post by The Centurion on Dec 3, 2006 13:05:46 GMT -5
Grave Forsaken-Beside the River of Blood
Released-2006
Label-Rowe Productions
Style-Thrashy Heavy Metal
This review has waited a long time to be written, but here it finally is. This would be Grave Forsaken's very first album and is happily released on Rowe Productions. The whole package is very professional with an expansive booklet insert with lyrics, tons of band photo's, credits and all that goodness. The whole package looks really good. So how does it sound?
Grave Forsaken labels themselves as a death/thrash band, but I would re label them to be thrashy heavy metal, since I hear more influence from bands like Iron Maiden than I hear influences like Slayer. The band is certainly talented at writing catchy riffs with some good melodic solos and leads to back them up. The only problem though is that often times a good riff will be played to death making the end of alot of the songs monotonous and tedious. The repetitive nature of some of the songs make them alot longer than they really needed to be, I find myself listening to the first two or three minutes of a song before skipping to the next one. The drumming has improved considerably since the self titled Demo the band released in 05, the drumming is solid, but still seems to be holding back a bit. Vocally the band is very all over the place. The vocal duties are shared by a lot of different members of the band but all sound enough alike to keep the album consistent. My biggest gripe with all the vocals on the record though, is that they are very forcefully inserted into the riffing of the songs. When they are delivered they come off as very percussive and forced into the song. The vocals on the song Buried Alive are very different from this and I think they provide a good idea of what direction the band needs to take in the vocal department. Not that the other vocals are bad, but if they were a bit more relaxed they might do wonders for the songs. All this negativity aside though, Grave Forsaken still has some very good hook filled chorus's and solos that still make it a worthy edition to a metalheads collection. The song The North Wind always gets my head banging.
Lyrically, Grave Forsaken follows in the footsteps of bands like Mortification or Narnia. The lyrics are laced with a strong message of Christianity but also contain many social criticisms. Grave Forsaken is one of those bands who have a specific purpose in mind when writing lyrics, but I must admit that at times the message can be filled with so much Christian doctrine that it may drive away the casual non believer. Some songs present the gospel in a very unique and creative way though, some of my favorite songs lyrically are The North Wind, Buried Alive, and Tribulation Cometh.
Overall I think this is a solid first release, but I feel like the band is holding back. Some of the super catchy riffs found on this disc tell me that this band is capable of so much more than what is found on this record. A bit of relaxation on the vocals, and maybe some more speed would really raise the band to the next level. Standout tracks include The North Wind, Buried Alive, and Harder to Hate.
Reviewed by Dan.