Gravewürm
Blood Of the Pentagram ()
Wydane przez Hell's HeadbangersRok wydania Kraj USANapisał Wouter4
Gravewürm is one of the earlier US black/death metal acts that are still active today. Since their formation in 1990 they have released a flood of demos, full lengths and split albums. Despite their lengthy existence and productive work ethic this doesn't necessarily translate in quality. "Blood Of the Pentagram" is filled with minimalist sounding proto-death/black metal in the vein of Hellhammer, Nunslaughter and Sathanas/Bathym. Where these early bands had a knack for writing engaging and interesting material despite their lack of instrumental skill and production values, Gravewürm are repetitive, dull and suffer from a complete lack of dynamics. The typical lo-fi production, still mandatory in the underground regions of this particular genre, with thin guitars and programmed drums feels as if the band recorded this album in a cardboard box in a garage. The bass guitar is the only thing that doesn't suffer from this lack of production. The terrible and monotoneous vocals don't help matters either. The programmed drums sound sterile and plastic. While a drumcomputer could warrant some interesting drum patterns, Gravewürm never tap into the potential that this device offers, instead relying on repetitive and simple beats a studio drummer could have easily replicated. "Blood Of the Pentagram" comes with more than okay handdrawn artwork, although it certainly isn't on the level of Chris Moyen, Erick Neyra or Sickness666. It certainly is underground and brutal, but there's no way to tell which market this is supposed to appeal to.
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