What would fit better to a lovely Valentine’s Day then a piece of rotten and depraved Death Metal? Well? Yeah, I figured… Nothing! On the menu today is Grave Alter, a one-man Death Metal act from Austin, Texas, USA. At the helm of his act is Shar Clay who took care of almost anything (except the mastering) himself for this 3-tracker that was released on the International Day of Love.
Musically Clay clearly didn’t want to take things all too whimpy. Instead he clearly drew his inspirations from the same cesspool as basically all those one-man Death Metal acts that are raiding today’s scene of the Metal Of Death. Though they were far from the only band to cover the most extreme territories in Death Metal, Mortician can be considered by far the most influential. Their trademark sound and blueprint can also be found in the music of Grave Alter. So, nope, not original (at all), but it is executed pretty well and not in the least place, quite convincing too. A lot of bands in this genre lack the real kick in the face/nuts to get your bowels moving along those swinging tunes, but Grave Alter is pretty much able to get them going. Unlike bands like Gutvoid, Fumes and Pukewraith, Grave Alter has the potential to put out something truly worthwhile in this genre that has quite its limitations, musically. Most remarkable difference compared to most of Grave Alter’s genre contemporaries is that the production is less clinical and digital, though there is still a bit to gain here as well, the chugging riffs and the overall utterly heaviness comes through much better.
