It's been a long time since I've regained the craving for some good old and raw black metal, especially in the summer time. Somehow I just never put on a black metal record in this season. But now there's a band that has turned this all around… Graveworm. Getting this for a review was a true grim and evil blessing. Let me tell you all about Graveworm's newest effort "Engraved in Black"!

Although this band has been working since '97, I never really heard of this black metal ensemble before, so I am forced to treat this effort like a debut or at least a first encounter with the band. When first putting on this record, you will get sucked into a dark and grim atmosphere. Upon hearing the first track "Dreaming Into Reality" it all becomes clear that Graveworm means business. Beautiful keyboard strings bring in the melody on this record, and for the first time I actually hear a keyboard player that is truly part of the band and not just tucked away in a corner, only to add a few small melodic parts to the songs like many bands in the genre do nowadays.

It's safe to say that Graveworm is a melodic black metal band unlike bands like Marduk and Mayhem but very much in the vein of older Cradle Of Filth and Dimmu Borgir material.
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Why older? Well Graveworm's material is just a tad heavier than the aforementioned bands, who were just like this band in their prime but have sunken somewhat into a polished shell.

With songs like "Legions Unleashed" and "Thorns Of Desecration" you'll also notice that the band brings a lot of diversity into their music. Especially with short and melodic breaks in pretty much every song. A band member that definitely shows his face in Graveworm, is front man Stefan Fiori who has such a great and diverse voice that he could easily face Dimmu Borgir's Shagrath or Cradle's Dani Filth. Deep, low guttural grunts go hand in hand with high pitched screams and silent whispers that give the songs an eerie atmosphere.

Graveworm have proven their point and have definitely won me over with "Engraved In Black". This record will be spinning in my record player for a long time and I predict that all fans of this music will think exactly the same. A nice addition to the album is the awesome, metal version of REM's "Losing My Religion" which is just a pure jewel, but they also did a cover of the Pet Shop Boys' "It's A Sin" for the Japanese version of "Engraved In Black". As a black metal fan, you just can't go wrong with Graveworm!
-Rockezine

[ Discography ] 

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Label: Icarus | Item Code: Various | Country: Italy | Year: 2003 | Genre: Black Metal

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