OK, this is a hard one....
When I listen to Grave Forsaken I feel like I have been warped back in time around 15 years. I don't know what exactly they are trying to do so it is hard to comment on that, but from a purely "Here is the CD, let's review it" viewpoint, is certainly is a challenge. I have to assume that there is a sense of tribute to older metal styling in the writing of "Fight to the Death" because the style of the songs, the vocal style, the whole feel is so very dated and so oldschool that it could be nothing else really. Throughout the entire album I heard not one moment that could be considered exploratory or groundbreaking, not one unusual timing structure or unpredictible change, it is so antique sounding that there is almost a sense of archaic "purity" to it. This is the mirror opposite of everything that I write or listen to, such a slap to the frontal lobe that I find myself totally out of my depth.
And that is why I actually find myself interested more than I would expect to be.
"Fight to the Death is the fourth album by Grave Forsaken, the only regularly gigging metal band in Perth with openly Christian lyrical content. It IS Metal, which is a relief considering the amount of material I am being presented with that can barely be called that, and it IS different to the rest of them, for better or for worse. The music is actually hard to put into words, but one can try...
The guitar tone could have come from any one of a dozen oldschool speed/thrash bands, heavily driven and sort of thin in tone, big on early thrash stylings in a Suicidal Tendencies sort of way without the zaniness. It has a sort of NYHC feel in bits, an Agnostic Front or Biohazard flavour but without the rappiness. When they get in the mood there is a punky hardcore quality to it, sort of a Hatebreed or Illdisposed feel but without the rage. Or maybe not, I can't really put my finger on the influences. I do hear a LOT of early Megadeth influence at times though, and I find myself wondering if it is deliberate or it it just that Medadeth is the epitome of thrash metal from the era they are aiming for?
Vocally, the lead vox is a shouted style reminiscent of bands like Motorhead, but without the melody, raw and vintage in tone. Where it is overlaid in effect like in a section of "War is Hell" it is very effective, but when it is clean it can be a bit monotonous and predictible. Being as it is music with a message aimed at a demographic who are very likely to be interested in every word, the clarity is no doubt a wise decision, but it does make the album seem even more like it came from a time capsule. I suspect that that is what they are aiming for. Or are they? Again, I am confused. It is so unmodern it bewilders me. There is a fair bit of backup vocals here and there, again in the same yelling style as the lead vocals. Sometimes it just seems to be one vocallist, sometimes it is more of a group thing, but overall it does nothing quite so much as add to the oldschool feel of the album.
Seriously, if I was told that this CD was actually a remastered record from an early NWOBHM band in 1980 it wouldn't surprise me one bit, the feel is so oldschool to be - in metal terms - almost prehistoric.
There are some moments that stand out. "Call me a dreamer" actually had me giggling at its contrived megatacky beginning and female guest vocals, lyrics soppy enough to make Danny from Voyager sit up and take notes, but then they underscore this sickly sweetness around 3 minutes in with what is probably the heaviest music on the CD, fuck but it baffles me. "Light in the shadows" is a song where the guys seem to loosen up and let the guitars wander free a bit, "Destruction Comes" has a nice fat groove rhythm at the beginning, "Dying Day" gets pretty cool towards the end..... there are lots of little bits of interest scattered throughout.
It suddenly occurs to me that the album is probably intended to be just mellow enough to get past the defence mechanism of religious parents in the bible belt and just heavy enough to make it fun to play. Maybe Grave Forsaken are actually geniuses in parental manipulation?
Look, let's be honest here. This album is NOT going to find its way into regular rotation in my personal collection of metal. Few of the local albums do to be honest, but "Fight to the Death" even more that the otherts just isn't going to sit right with the stuff I like to listen to. I suspect that most of us extreme rivetheads are gonna feel the same way, and due to the religious message in the songs it is an uphill battle for them to avoid being written off straight off the bat. I reckon "Fight to the Death" is not an album that is likely to get a great deal of attention in Perth.... but The fact that Grave Forsaken don't give two fucks about what we think of their personal convictions and play whatever they want to is worth some respect at the very least. After all, isn't that what metal is all about?
I reckon it is.
Review by Jez.
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