Grave Hex from Helsinki apparently sees no reason to defy the high standard of Finnish Metal with their premiere full length ‘Vermian Death’. It’s an excellent ratio of Punk and Metal influences, but isn’t the more typical blending of D-beat Punk more common in say the Swedish sound of Death Metal like Dismember for instance and rather feels more rooted in Crossover Thrash / 1980’s American Hardcore Punk. The album also has some heavy sections with Doomy power chords and then out of seemingly nowhere a warp drive guitar solo from another dimension bleeds in – never going quite to Death/Doom territory but generally slower to mid-paced Death Metal punctured with faster sections throughout.
The ways the riffs and drums connect in the opening song ‘Steeping Master Worm Flesh’ is great, the instruments are satisfyingly intertwined. The snare is stomping along after the riff like a beast chasing its prey. Lots of rock beats and pounding away at a Thrash pace, the drummer understands restraint and doesn’t blast the entire thing through he saves that type of drumming strategically for when it’s needed the most because this sound within Death Metal isn’t as high speed oriented as other styles.
There are some smooth transitions where a short drum fill or lick will help propel the music forward which makes for flowing songs. The vocals are like a spectre haunting you and are usually a lower end growl but also come in the shape of distant and reverb soaked howls – the wailing of a man changing into a beast with very nefarious calls to the moon. The bass guitar is like a bubble of noxious gas rising up from a swamp and buzzes away like a giant fly such as on the intro to the excellent title track.
The title track is a heavy groove riff based song where the drums are just smashing down like acid rain during a thunderstorm. The rhythm section really shines here in the background while the guitars spin around throwing out some trippy leads and reabsorb back into the swirling tremolo riff that propels the track. There’s a smidge of spooky horror movie sounding clean guitar to break everything up a bit on the fourth song ‘Endless Impossible Constructs’ which feels like stumbling upon a cemetery ritual while out for a late night walk and trying to escape without getting caught.
Expect thrashing parts with alot of rock and roll attitude. The focus is less on going full speed ahead at all times but doesn’t shy away from faster paces when it’s time. I thought this was a cool short album clocking in at around 27 minutes and a bit. Everything is succinct and well written. I’m stoked to see what Grave Hex works on next.
