Graveyard

Sweden really knows how to get nostalgic for music. Basically heading the revival of garage rock music all on their own, the blue and yellow-flagged semi-socialists have started to invade other musical genres in an attempt to keep with their church-burning, viking relatives -- the Norwegians. But while Norway took their idea of metal into ridiculous territory with corpse paint, nail-studded wristlets and kvlt-itude, Gothenburg's Graveyard got nostalgic for the `70s again and kicked out some heavy psychedelic rock.

Playing with very little distortion, relying instead on heavy rhythms, pounding drums, and intense riffage, Graveyard have adopted a loose feel to their jangly-sounding heavy metal tribute. Lead singer Joakim Nilsson's voice howls and croons like Danzig while musically the band jams like Cream or Blue Cheer.

Opener "Evil Ways" starts out with some jazz-fusion vibes, channeling Spirit before it rips into a hard, driving riff. "Lost in Confusion" lends a bouncy tempo to its 3/4 time signature. "Submarine Blues" rocks hard from the get-go, inspiring an intense flailing of limbs and some serious headbanging. The scope of how hard this record rocks is in extreme contradiction in compared to amount of distortion used. In fact, I've drawn a scientific chart to examine this further:




























The songs themselves are extremely well-thought out and crafted. Both the guitars and the bass play off of each other well, melding with the drum parts to keep something moving and busy providing stark contrast when the band plays a single, tight riff. The melodies and harmonies are distinct. The production is smooth, neither betraying the vintage feel of the band or the modern ear demand for clear production.

There really just does not seem to be a lot of flaws on this album. A bold statement, to say the least, but I feel strongly about this. I can feel their music all the way down to my rock 'n' roll soul, which is a phrase that's totally okay to use in the context of speaking about this band.