GRAVEHILL

As uttered at the end of "Decibel Ritual" by Mike Abominator (he of the Armageddon Vomits and Misanthropic Diatribes) "We are GRAVEHILL, we are death fucking metal!" By golly, they sure as heck are, albeit the thrashy old school variety, taking cues from a variety of sources, whether it is MASTER, DARK ANGEL, SODOM, or MASSACRE. If skulls, fire, denim, leather, faded tattoos, and enough BO to induce gagging are not your thing, then you better start running now and get as far away from "Rites of the Pentagram" as possible.

So much of what make "Rites of the Pentagram" such a fun filled adventure is in the look, the feel, and the sound of this proud exercise in skull buggery. The California act play it with gusto and an honest approach to songwriting, while ensuring that every second is ugly as sin and oppositional/defiant. Abominator's vocals are throaty, rough, and purposefully intelligible, the guitar riffs are bone dry, and the drumming is natural. John Haddad tracked, mixed, and mastered it in 12 days and nailed it. The sound blends splendidly with songs that ride chainsaw grooves and up-tempo gallops, at times veering into doom-death territory. Genres are not splintered and musicianship is geared toward the basics, namely the creation of fat 'n gnarly riffs, workmanlike solos, and an emphasis on creating as many headbang-able moments as possible.

Ain't a damn thing original about "Rites of the Pentagram" and it is not as though every track is destined for classic status. The best songs are front loaded, but the second half never falls below solid. It is a simple matter of heart and soul and GRAVEHILL has a tank full of it. As stated in the wickedly well done booklet (Mark Riddick's art throughout will bring tears to the eyes of the dedicated damned),"Attention sissy-fucks! This is how real death metal is done…no fruity keyboards, no shitty emo or fake guttural vocals, no triggered pussy drumming, no lame sub-par AT THE GATES wannabe riffs, no association with the word 'core" or a band name that is a sentence long like As I Lay in Man Cum, and no cramming 5,000 riffs with stupid political themed lyrics…either take notice or kill yourself…no warnings, the threat is real, cunts!" There is nothing left to say about it.