ALBUM REVIEW: Seasons Dreaming Death – Graveripper
In the short time GRAVERIPPER have been a band they have gone from strength to strength. In a mere four years the band have created and released two extended plays, Complete Blinding Darkness and Radiated Remains (the latter of which was mastered by none other than Joel Grind of Toxic Holocaust), and a split EP. However, with their debut full-length album Seasons Dreaming Death the band have created their most concise and well-crafted effort to date.
From the technical guitar that kicks off the album in Into The Grave, the ethos of the band is made abundantly clear. Riffs are at the forefront of everything the band do and everything else is built around them, and when they are crafted this well, it seems like a match-winning formula. The band pile all of the best ingredients from their influences together, with the groove of thrash, the intensity of death and darkness of black metal, to lay down some of the finest guitar-driven metal you’re likely to hear this year.
Ripped And Torn Apart picks up the baton and keeps up the pace with some of the best drum work on the entire release from Jacob Lett who links up perfectly with bassist Chris Pilotte to lay the foundation that is so important for the other members to work from. The one thing that is notable on this track is that the aggression is dialled up to a whole new level and the headbanging moments are seemingly never-ending. If you thought that you would find some form of reprieve in the following track Divine Incantations, then you couldn’t be more mistaken. At just over two minutes this song is one of the most skin-flayingly fast and direct, with Keegan Hrybyk and Corey Parks driving the song forward emphatically.
Resist Against The Light is one of the real highlights on the album with the opening riff giving off an early-90s era MEGADETH feel. This is the band at their fastest and most technically proficient. The snarling barked vocals from Parks add to the savage feel of the song, and the KREATOR-inspired chorus section helps make for one of the finest efforts the band have penned to date. Normally by this point of an album you feel like the intensity is dying off, but for GRAVERIPPER there is absolutely no sign of this.
The closing track Only Coldness leans heavily into the blackened aspect of the group’s sound with the tremolo lead runs, the pummelling drums and harsh accent. The title of the song is a perfect reflection of the whole aura that is created. This is the kind of song that makes you feel as though you are wandering through a frost-bitten forest in Norway. A real slice of evil sounding blackened death metal.
The fact that this is their debut full-length album and GRAVERIPPER are delivering such a high standard is a truly remarkable fact. The potential of this band is something that metalheads can really get excited about. As the group pick up more traction, they will no doubt be bringing their violent brand of metal music to stages around the world and that is when things will get really interesting. For now, let’s enjoy this phenomenal slab of blackened thrash mastery and wait patiently to see what else the boys have up their collective sleeves.
Rating: 8/10
Seasons Dreaming Death is out now via Wise Blood Records.
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