Gravesend’s 2021 full-length debut, Methods of Human Disposal, hit me like an unexpected brick between the eyes. So shocking was that concussive impact, in fact, that I was a bit dazed and later had to revisit the album to adjust the score. Upwards. To a 4.0. The New York City trio’s brand of blackened grind exuded such an aura of debauched filth that it almost matched the tales of decay and depravity woven by the lyrics. While grind is not my natural go-to genre, this, apparently, is what I want from it. Whether that says more about me or Gravesend, I don’t know but the latter certainly have issues that they may want to explore with a professional. Now back with that tricky sophomore record, has two years away helped these NYC denizens?
No. If anything, now matters are worse. As primal and savage as before but with the overall tempo slightly slowed, and S’s thrumming bass lines slammed into overdrive (“Streets of Destitution”), Gravesend feels as much a blackened death band, as a grind act now. That’s not to suggest the band has done away with the explosions of barely controlled, stolen-PCP-fueled aggression. Gowanus Death Stomp means business and the band is more than prepared to cave your skull in, before lobbing your bloodied, barely recognizable corpse into the eponymous canal (“Festering in Squalor” or “Code of Silence”). However, the overall vibe of this post-industrial, inner city ‘burb is one of urban devastation grinding over you (“Thirty Caliber Pesticide” and the churning back third of the title track, in particular), albeit punctuated by repeated blunt force trauma to ensure submission. This is Prowler in the Yard-era Pig Destroyer and Caustic Wound projected through an Archgoat filter.
Just as on Methods of Human Disposal, the use of synths and heavily distorted samples, allows Gravesend to add an eerie and unsettling sense of polluted desolation in places. This starts straight out of the gate with the buzzing swarms of flies and vertigo-inducing electronica that open Gowanus Death Stomp on “Deranged,” through the yawing first half of the excellent “Crown of Tar” to the book-ending corruption of closer “Enraged.” Guitarist A has injected another level of rage into his pestilential roars and howls, bordering on possessed at times (“The Third Rail”). The surface level, knuckle-dragging simplicity of some of Gravesend’s work actually masks a murky layer of complexity, particularly in G’s work behind the kit, with pummeling blasts giving way to defter, more progressive work that is one of the highlights of the record (“Mortsafe (Resurrection Man)”). This slots in effortlessly around A’s riffs, which alternate between frantic onslaughts of grind (“Lupara Bianca”), slower, insistent work that borders on amped-up doom (also “Lupara Bianca”) and frantic blackened tremolos (“11414” and “Festering in Squalor”).
Methods of Human Disposal was, by grind standards, weighty, clocking in at 27 minutes. Gowanus Death Stomp has gone full urban sprawl, stretching that to a skull-crushing 36 minutes, and yet, through the alternation of (slightly) slowed tempos and unrestrained chaos, stellar performances from all three members of Gravesend and the skillful deployment of electronic elements, the album flies by, leaving behind it a shit-stained trail of destruction. The mixing and mastering, handled by Arthur Rizk (who was also behind the desk for this year’s Tomb Mold), must take significant credit for this. Balanced and vibrant, everything has room to breathe and do its violent worst, without being too loud or overwhelming the listener. I have reviewed numerous records that don’t come anywhere close to the levels of heaviness and intensity packed into Gowanus Death Stomp but which leave my ears and brain exhausted. Thanks in no small part to Rizk, I can dive straight back into the seedy backstreets of Gowanus.
A fantastic follow-up to Methods of Human Disposal, Gravesend have very subtly modulated their sound, layering in just a little more complexity and nuance, while on the surface sounding as raw, hungry and aggressive as they did on the debut. While there are some clear standouts, including “Crown of Tar,” “Mortsafe (Resurrection Man)” and the title track, there is no weak material on Gowanus Death Stomp. It crushes you into the dust with furious abandon and drags your pummeled wreck of a body behind a dumpster but somehow leaves you breathless and staggering back to your feet for another round.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Websites: warforgravesend.bandcamp.com | warforgravesend.nyc
Releases Worldwide: October 27th, 2023
