GRAVDAL strive for their own label on their new album Kadaverin, because the black metal corset of the past is much too tight. After a short time, the musicians dare to take a break into extremely relaxed fields during the title song, and lead us into unimagined elegiac spheres through saxophone sounds. Suddenly, the mood changes completely and dark metal abducts the listener into lightless depths. The amalgamation of these two opposite types succeeds exceptionally well and develops a certain suction effect.
The following Apostler Av Døden shows a more conventional side of the Norwegians, with a much more aggressive, but at the same time dirty rolling style, offering a poisonous voice. The courage to extravagance is also evident in the singing, for the exaltation, rather oblique and independent voice coloration adds a very interesting facet. Likewise, different tempos are flowing smoothly and harmoniously, so that a gripping listening pleasure is guaranteed. Sometimes the compositions drag themselves like a wounded animal, then the approach is again more aggressive or a quiet passage dominates the scenery. But do not worry, we can find many powerful attacks without a chaotic frenzy. GRAVDAL have a good sense for the right dose and keep their sound dynamically interesting at any time by the inclusion of hard-rocking guitar solos, strange voice experiments or Black'n'Roll-injections. Longer instrumental parts are intermittently embedded in the arrangements and the music is an eventful, but not easy journey, because there are no catchy choruses or tightly composed parts. The quartet is wonderfully introverted during Eclipse and thus does not care about conventions; as a further plus, it turns out that harsh black metal attacks in the course of Roten Til All Ondskap get an all the more intense impact. In addition, there are doomed sequences and pounding rhythms - there's a lot going on! Finally, the thrashing rhythm of Inni Menneskedyret still entices to swing the dance leg and then the mat. Ultimately, Når Noen Tar Farvel lets us go with contemplative piano adoptions.
I appreciate this challenging approach, so do not expect a good-mood album to listen to in the background, but a work that remains exciting over a long period of time.