ALBUM REVIEW: Neon Graves – Goregӓng

Florida’s GOREGÄNG are a band that have made quite a name for themselves in the short time they have been active. Consisting of two members, Taylor Nordberg and Jeramie Kling, who initially performed together in WOMBBATH together, playing drums and guitar respectively, they decided to branch out on their own to create their own music. Shortly afterwards, a self titled, three song EP was released, making waves in the underground death metal scene. Now, two years on, the band have finally released their debut album, Neon Graves, a strong album that blends death metal and crust punk incredibly well, making for an intense and fierce album.

The first five songs of Neon Graves, starting with A Cavity In Reality, are all sharp shocks of dense, dark and aggressive death metal with a solid, sludgy undertone courtesy of the bass. The crust punk elements, although fairly subtle on each of these songs, really add a ton of depth and energy to each song, with False Flags and Spray Of Teeth being notable cases where the song definitely benefited from having this element thrown into the sound. The guitars sound great, and have a great tone, although there are a few points where you get the feeling that the music is far more reserved and that the band could have been a little more adventurous with their riffs.

Each of these first five songs are quite intense, and make sure that the first ten minutes of the record fly by. Feeble-Minded Rash proves to be a stand out track, with tight, ferocious guitar work and equally explosive drumming, coupled with bellicose and caustic vocals, making it one of the more aggressive and powerful songs on the record, adding lots of vicious energy and venom to the proceedings. Neon Graves‘ titular track is a bleak, brooding, affair with slow, sprawling riffs, steady drum patterns and booming, rasping vocals that again provides lots of weight to the albums overall sound, and shows that the band can produce slower tracks that are still every bit as crushing as their faster and more furious offerings.

Plague Of Hammers proves to be one of the albums most robust and epic tracks, with thick, thrashing guitars, a dense, bubbling bass hook and hellish, howling vocals, all cloaked in some well placed atmospherics, which helps to set this song apart from the ones that came before it significantly. The next two songs, Goregӓng and Weightless Sentinels, revert to the formula, blistering paces and more primal edge that defined the first few songs that appeared on this album, with punishing punk drumming and primitive, fierce guitars being the driving force for the bulk of both songs, with the second song possessing an excellent, tar thick bass line that makes the music sound absolutely massive throughout.

Putrid Judgement sees the vocals reach their zenith, with many of the vocal lines being delivered with a slimy, sepulchral guttural roar that immediately jumps out and grabs the listeners attention, with thunderous, monolithic guitar hooks and authoritative drumming backing them and adding even more power to the sound. This Era Of Human is a great closing track, with a solid, crunching bass hook, razor sharp guitars and sonorous vocals all making this song sound excellent. It’s one of the albums more aggressive songs, and makes sure that the album comes to a close on a high note.

Neon Graves is a solid and impressive record. It’s just the right length to make sure the album is full of great ideas, but not so long that it outstays its welcome. There are a few songs where you get the feeling that the song could have done with a few more riffs to make it stand out, but for the most part this is a brilliant album with a deep, fierce rhythmic sound. Blending punk elements with the more visceral and grating edge of death metal, the band are able to make almost every song sound fantastic and memorable. It’s a great base on which to build future records as well, providing a brilliant template on which to work in the future, setting a high bar for the next GOREGÄNG record to surpass. If this album is anything to go by, whatever GOREGÄNG have coming next is sure to be interesting and exciting.

Rating: 7/10

Neon Graves is set for release May 20th via Transcending Obscurity Records. 

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