Darkness, coldness, the middle of winter. Doom metal music seems to fit the mood just right at this point in time. Ireland’s GRAVEYARD DIRT comes into play right about now. Having formed way back in 1994 when doomy death metal began its origins. The band released a demo and then mysteriously broke up. Deciding to re-unite in 2007 and releasing a three track EP Shadows Of Old Ghost and like a zombie GRAVEYARD DIRT has become resurrected. With their very first full length release For Grace Or Damnation, GRAVEYARD DIRT is making their ghostly presence known.

Listening to By Wind And Time I am suddenly taken back to the days of Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride. Melancholy guitars melt into swollen masses of doomy riffs. Slow is the key word here. The duel guitars of Kieran O’Toole and Davie Reilly sound like a massive oppression of encompassing desolation. They compliment each other quite well while keeping the guitars free of noisy feedback. The drumming of Gary Sweeney favors that of My Dying Bride’s style, lots of double bass and interesting signatures hidden within the songs. The drums never truly get fast or go above mid paced. The bass seems to be swallowed up by the low end growl of the guitars. The vocals of Paul Leyden really remind me of a cross between Alex Krull from Atrocity and Aaron Stainthrope of My Dying Bride. With a deep and commanding death metal yell mixed with sullen spoken vocals. As Enslaved By Grief kicks in the beauty of the depressive ambience of the song engulfs the listener in a wave of doom astoundment. Most of the songs on For Grace Or Damnation are epically long. Even though they are lengthy, they endure their strength and have escaped the redundancy that some doom bands accidentally fall into. GRAVEYARD DIRT seems to have doom metal down to a science. Don’t expect noisy free range doom from this band. GRAVEYARD DIRT follows a more laid back style of deathlike doom from the days of metal past. A true must for fans of the old school doom days.