“Swedish war mongers Just Before Dawn are back once again to weave bloody tales of man’s inhumanity to man through their tried-and-true variant of doomy death metal. The Bolt Thower influences are never far from their chosen sound and style and after four full-lengths and several EPs, including last year’s Battle-Sight Zeroing, Just Before Dawn have done all they could to fill the massive crater left by the beloved U.K. fighting unit and battle buddies Hail of Bullets.” War is forever.
Earlier this year, I talked about the void left behind in Bolt Thrower’s absence. I mentioned a few bands who are successfully filling a bit of said void by name and alluded to a few more. The Netherlands’ Graceless is one of the latter. Back in 2020, they stormed my gates, dropping one of my favorite death metal platters of that year and earning a spot on my Honorable Mention roster with Where Vultures Know Your Name. They did so not by innovating the genre or adding some new twist to an already tried-and-true formula. Nope. They did it by faithfully executing the type of meathead death metal that adds pounds (or kilos) to the barbell and hair to the chest.” Grace and disgrace.
“Today marks not only my 100th full review here at AMG, but also the first time that I will be covering a band for the second time. Double milestone! Just over a year ago, I wrote about Trinity of Deception, the debut full-length from Dutch band Burial Remains. It was thoroughly enjoyable, if somewhat unremarkable in the songwriting department, but its primary victory was in achieving the quintessential Swedish death metal sound. Recent re-listening reminded me just how potent the band’s HM-2 attack can be, so I’ve been mixing and stockpiling two-stroke gasoline to prepare for all of the chainsawing I expect to hear on follow-up Spawn of Chaos.” The saw is the law.
“One of my very first reviews as a n00b saw me tackling 1914’s The Blind Leading the Blind, an album that effectively combined the rumbling death/doom of Asphyx and the grooving attack of Bolt Thrower, so when I saw that the latest release from Dutch band Graceless was touted as embodying that same combo, I thought I’d give it a whirl and hope that it would be the shot in the arm I desperately need.” Death inoculations.
“Old school death metal holds few surprises. Much like Nightwishcore or stoner metal, its sound is so well established that any deviations from the tried and true standard swiftly take it out of the OSDM sphere into modern death, melodic death, or other variations on the theme. If you want to retain that old school buzzsaw to the cranium feel, yet add a different element, you need something that supports the dirty, grimy nastiness with something of a similar murk.” Young murks.
