Graveview - Demos '18 / '19

GRAVEVIEW - Demos '18 / '19 (RAW SKULL Records - CD 2019)

Death metal band from Florida? Hmm, that must be something new for us all haha. Joking aside, we all know how important this area was for creation of the death metal scene and how many legendary bands it bred. Graveview is also from there, and although I am not sure if they will ever manage to get the "legendary" status (probably not), but they can already boast of with two pretty damn good demos. As the title of this CD says, they were recorded in 2018 and 2019, they have no titles, which is pretty boring... But the music is really not bad at all.  

This death metal may not be 100% typical for Florida, but there are at least few slight "Leprosy" influences here and there. But the general style of Graveview is like a much, much brutalized Swedish death metal. There are some very characteristic riffs for the Swedish style of death metal, like in the opening song "Selective Mortality", so you could easily think of such Grave when listening to these demos. Even the guitar tone has that recognizable chainsaw HM-2 touch. At least that’s what I felt in the beginning. Because later Graveview mixed it all with lunatic blasts, which sound more brutal and savage than the typical Swedish death metal. Listen to “Descent into Filth”, what a massive, brute force this song has. 

Especially on the second demo, Graveview became more brutal, more crushing and relentless - which is where their music is much more alike the US style. The music kind of gruesome in its atmosphere, riffs are chunky and aggressive, the sound is massive and repulsive, more like from Gutted, Morta Skuld or Baphomet. Here I especially enjoyed “Amalgamation of Insanity” for its really wicked and uncompromising, yet somehow quite memorable riffage. 

Well, two very nice demos here, I must say. Graveview seems to be very consistent in what they do and try to achieve, they have good ideas and skills to rip some guts out and deliver crushing death metal. Again, it may be nothing new, but I listen to it with a smile on my face anyway.  

Standout tracks: "Selective Mortality" 

Verdict: 70/100