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One of the most anticipated concerts at the Heavy Days In Doom Town festival was Graves at Sea's closing set on Saturday. The band returned to active duty last year after a 4 year hiatus, and this was their first European show ever! And let me tell you, they absolutely killed it. Their blend of doom and NOLA sludge riffs carried by Nathan Misterek's blackened rasps, works so goddamn well live. The Heavy Days In Doomtown set was one hour of pure primal metal.
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| Photo by 4:30am from the HDDT concert. |
Check out Repulsive Revolutions' lively description of the moment when Graves at Sea kicked into "Red Monarch" from their 2003 demo:
When the intro twists into that opening riff, the whole room loses it. Heads are banged, beer is spilled, stages are dived from... it's one of the best moments of the whole weekend. The guitars ratchet the tension up with each repetition of the riff, the drums build and build but never quite lock in, the whole thing threatening to erupt at any moment. And then it does, and I almost destroy my face against the stage. This is what music is capable of. Sheer fucking bliss.
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| Nick Phit and Lola Henderson. Photos by 4:30am from the HDDT concert. |
The new lineup includes Lola Henderson on bass and Chuck Watkins on drums (and that is one massive rhytm section) in addition to original members Nick Phit on guitar and Nathan Misterek on vocals. Currently the band is touring Europe together with Meth Drinker (tour dates on Facebook). Go see them if you get the chance, you wont regret it.
The band is also working on new material. According to the above Facebook page Seventh Rule Recordings is "is slated to do a release with Graves in the next couple months". In the meantime you can check out a couple of their old releases on the 20 Buck Spin Bandcamp. Their 2003 demo (favorite track, the aforementioned "Red Monarch"), and their 2005 split with Asunder (favorite track "Pariah") which has just been made available for purchase.
[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]
[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]
I vaguely remember hearing these guys back in 2003 when "Documents of Grief" first came out. Good to know that they're on bandcamp and that they're working on new material.
ReplyDeleteUltimately I think they were better live than on their old records. I will definitely check out any new material.
DeleteNathan Misterek also sings in Laudanum, a band I like a lot.