Graveworm 'Scourge Of Malice'
Last Episode , 2001
Lord Pale:
Sounding roughly in the vein of Hecate Enthroned and Cradle Of Filth but at Agathodaimon's pace, I was expecting alot from this band. Starting with a stirring keyboard intro and breaking into heavy mid paced opener 'Unhallowed By The Infernal One' which is soaked in synth and decent riffing I was initially quite pleased. However further listening proved fruitless as Graveworm offer no original take on the genre and continued to plod along through the movements without a smite of anything memorable and an annoying lack of vocal variation. The drab material on offer received a few brief reprieves in the way of some nice violin passages, but rather than add to the whole feel they just seemed to be added for the sheer sake of it all. Basically suffering from predictable timing changes and vocal styles with the expected synth breaks and intros with a lack of song writing skills the album adds up to a very boring experience indeed. Perhaps the highlight of the album for me was the cover of Iron Maiden's 'Fear Of The Dark' as it was the only recognizable song when it came down to repeated spins of the disc. It really shows its true colours when it gets to 'Demonic Dreams�, which could have been a Tristania b-sider, a low quality rip off of the gothic/blackmetal hybrid headliners, avoid.
Favourite Tracks - Fear Of The Dark, Descending Into Ethereal Mist, In Vengeance Of Our Wrath
Mark - 4/10 |
