GRAVERIPPER - Seasons Dreaming Death
Wise Blood Records
A few years back I was giving the thumbs down to various blackened thrash acts. The main reason was that the majority of the acts were generic sounding. It was like standing in the grocery store staring at ten different brands of white bread. So nowadays a band who's playing in this style has to bring something unique to a genre that's been run through the ringer.
This Indianapolis four piece act are not re-inventing the genre. But at least on this their full length debut they're giving it a shot. First off I like vocalist/guitarist Corey Parks' singing style. He doesn't do the generic black metal shrieking vocals. His vocal style comes off like a caustic bark similar to pre-cookie monster death metal. Add to that the song structures this band creates are not generic at all.
The riffs rum the gambit of death & roll, black metal and of course standard old school thrash. Opener "To the Grave” is the type of song that'll get a pit started even at a home for geriatric heshers. "And I Curse Reality" is a Teutonic thrash influenced cut you wished DESTRUCTION would do nowadays. "Ripped and Torn Apart" plus "Divine Incantations" have a slight MAYHEM vibe going on. That's a nice way of saying they borrowed.
Another cool thing about GRAVERIPPER's sound is that the two guitarists don't bury the bass player. I mean in almost every song here, there's ten, bassist Chris Pilotte's playing is standing together with the guitar riffage. Hell I think he does a solo or two. Yes that is very cool. Some of the guitar solos are decent and the drum work is satisfactory.
By the way it took me a good four listens to this release before I became a fan of this band. Anyways yeah this is a cool debut full length. GRAVERIPPER wins the award for putting out the most non generic blackened thrash album of 2023. That's nothing to scoff at either.
LISTEN HERE:
https://graveripper.bandcamp.com/album/seasons-dreaming-death
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