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GRAVE 'Fiendish Regression' (Century Media) (2004)
My relationship with Grave started straight after I was given a badly-recorded tape of their first studio album 'Into the Grave' by a friend of mine and that was back in 1991. That was it for me – I instantly became a fan of this very promising band.
The Swedish Death Metal scene was still enjoying its infancy, and the classic sound that bands like In Flames, The Haunted and Dark Tranquillity are currently presenting to the Metal world had just started establishing itself in the consciousness of the Metalheads. Yes, bands like Grave, Entombed and Hypocrisy were the pioneers of this special movement, and from that early stage they showed signs of great talent.
The Death Metal riff machine was working well, and in 1992, only a year after the release of their debut album, the band’s second album 'You Will Never See…Heaven' came to light. Equally aggressive but also quite technical, this album was hailed as the band’s best effort (many people still consider it the band’s best effort, myself included) and helped spread the name Grave throughout the world. Everything seemed to be working well with the band, and even though 'Soulless', the band’s third release, was not as fast and aggressive as its predecessors, it was the band’s most popular album up until that time.
Well, good things don’t last forever. The band’s fourth release 'Hating Life' (1996) had nothing in common with the past three glorious releases and as a consequence, was rejected by the majority of Death Metal fans. That release was the last studio effort before the end of the first Grave era that led to the cessation of all activity by its members.
It took five years for this sleeping giant to wake up, but once it did, it made sure the whole world would again acknowledge its presence. In 2002 the album 'Back From the Grave' marked the beginning of the second very productive era for the Swedish quartet. The album was received with great joy by the Metal community, and helped Grave to get on their feet once again. Today, I am very happy to be talking to you about the band’s latest release 'Fiendish Regression'.
Well, all of you who had doubts as to whether the offspring of 'Back From the Grave' would be equally good, can rest assured. Not only that, but I believe that 'Fiendish Regression' is more mature and better presented as an album. Grave obviously realised that every move they make must be well-calculated, and the first thing that you get from this nine-track album is that exact feeling. I discovered with great joy that every little thing that made me love this band in the first place is still present: great heavy riffs that sometimes surpass every logical speed limit ('Heretic'), and other times signal the beginning of groovy festivities ('Trial by Fire', 'Awakening'). Even though the whole album sounded quite enjoyable to my ears, I have to admit that it’s 'Reborn' with the obvious Morbid Angel influences that I can definitely name as my personal favourite.
The album was produced by the one and only Peter Tagtgren (Hypocrisy) who managed to break the tradition that had Grave recording their albums in the well-known Sunlight Studios. This time the recordings took place in Peter’s own Abyss Studios, and the result was once again quite amazing.
Fiendish Regression is one of those albums that will manage to win you over straight away, and the only reason that I give it four starts is because this band has produced in the past diamonds such as 'Into the Grave' and 'You Will Never See…Heaven', both of which are unsurpassable . All of you who were lucky enough to see the band sharing the same stage last year with Exodus, Nuclear Assault and Nile are quite aware of what they are dealing with. As for the rest (myself included), let’s just hope that it won’t be long before the Swedish extremists once again storm the UK stages.
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Review by John Stefanis
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