GRAVE — Morbid Ascent (review)

GRAVE — Morbid Ascent album cover EP · 2013 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Morbid Ascent" is an EP release by Swedish death metal act Grave. The EP was released through Century Media Records in August 2013. "Morbid Ascent" features 5 tracks and a full playing time of 25:39 minutes. "Venial Sin" and "Morbid Ascent" are new original written tracks. In addition to those two tracks "Morbid Ascent" also features a cover version of "Possessed" by Satyricon, a remix of the closing track "Epos" from Grave´s 10th full-length studio album "Endless Procession of Souls (2012)" and a re-recorded version of "Reality of Life", which first appeared on the band´s second demo cassette tape "Sexual Mutilation (1989)".

Stylistically there are no surprises on "Morbid Ascent". This is old school Swedish death metal to the bone. Grave have held the torch high for so many years now that only their mid-90s excursions into groove metal territory have revealed any attempt at playing something different. That attempt wasn´t exactly well received by the fans of the band though and they quickly returned to their signature old school death metal sound. The material is as always in the more brutal end of the Swedish old school death metal spectrum. Downtuned brutal riffing and deep growling vocals complimented by crushingly heavy beats and occasional higher tempos. Never blasting though. The cover version of "Possessed" by Satyricon is given a death metal "twist" and blends in well with the rest of the tracks.

"Morbid Ascent" is both well produced, well played and well written and upon conclusion the EP is quite a great listen. Grave´s core sound has a tendency to become a bit one-dimensionally brutal over the course of a full album, but in this shorter EP format, I think it works really well and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.
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