There is no shortage of bands who label themselves as ‘Old School Death Metal’ for the past decade or so. Many on the surface seem to fit the label, both from a sonic and aesthetic perspective, but too many lack something fundamental – an evil sound. The reason there was even a return to the foundational years of Death Metal in the late 00s was the desire to tap into that well of dark, wretched atmosphere that made the genre so compelling in the first place. Luckily for us, Nedgravd has arrived to not just rehash a bunch of Entombed or Incantation riffs, but to write genuinely demented Death Metal.
What has made Nedgravd stand out immediately within the pack is their source of inspiration. Rather than going for the most obvious bands to define their sound, they have sourced their musical DNA straight from the core of Infester. For anyone not familiar, Infester is an extremely cult 90s US Death Metal who released one album before disappearing. Despite their legendary status, there is barely any bands who can claim the title of being a spiritual successor to them, until Nedgravd came along.
The Norwegian quartet have done their homework as to what made Infester so special in the first place. Rather than just a pale imitation of their source material, there is an understanding in the musical make-up of their idols to make their own take. Firstly, you have the incredibly downtuned and cavernous sounding guitars and the bass lines lurking in the distance, responsible for creating a dense and suffocating atmosphere. You even have some malevolent tremolo picking on tracks like ‘Paragon of Impiety’ that give it this otherworldly feel. The snare heavy drumming does a remarkable job of punishing your ears and giving the songs a free flowing sensation, not knowing where it will go next. The drumming style feels very reminiscent less of Infester, but of equally unhinged bands like Fallen Christ or Nuclear Death with its Grindy influence and distaste for metronomes. This allows the songs to frantically change without warning, from rapid fire burst sections to sluggish and engulfing bits.
In this respect, the band differ distinctly from Infester, pushing the boundaries of experimentation within by going with much longer songs such as ‘Sentiential Incantation’ or ‘Severed Gate Shroud’. To top this off, the vocalist employs two distinct ranges: an inhuman sounding guttural with indiscernible words and a high-pitched shriek, effortlessly switching between both to add even more variety to the mix. Layered within the mix are occasional dashes of synth work, almost serving as a temporary breather from all the madness happening but without losing the cryptic atmosphere. Lastly, I would be remiss to no mention the eerie samples thrown in that hammer the evil thematic. Some might find them overdone, but to me they enhance the intent of the album, to really hammer the thematic of darkness and despair. None of this would be possible without the production job, deliberately going for a more lo-fi and raw sound that oozes a nefarious energy.
As far as debuts go, Nedgravd deserve all the attention they’ve been getting. It took 4 youngsters from Norway (some in the band are even underage) to put the shame a scene that is sometimes too happy to celebrate the same stale riffs and songwriting. ‘Ascension’ is not a work for those looking for precision or technical flair, but rather those that prize their Death Metal to give off a musty scent of tombs, blood drenched walls and inexplicable horrors. If this is only the beginning, I can’t begin to imagine what they’ll be capable of in a few years, and I look forward to it.
