RSS Feed


GRACE DISGRACED
Revoltality

Soundage Productions (2024)
Rating: 8.5/10

The last 12 or so years have been productive for Russian technical death metal band Grace Disgraced. Their debut album, Enthrallment Traced, dropped in 2012 and was followed two years later by The Primal Cause: Womanumental. In 2016 the Moscow-based combo released their third full-length outing, Lasting Afterdeaths, although it wouldn’t be until 2020 until Immortech landed. Now, another four years have drifted by and Revoltality is here, and it’s another savage composition.

Grace Disgraced are fronted by the ever ruthless tones of Polina Berezko. However, the four band members prefer to go by more mysterious names: Nobody #3706148 (vocals), Nothing #115721 (guitar), None #72829 (bass) and Never #923629 (drums).

If you’re unfamiliar with Grace Disgraced you’ll be struck by some of the stunning melodies the band incorporates within their mesh of jarring, heavyweight menace. Opener ‘When The Damned Unite’ is a glorious exhibition of intricacy but also simplicity as chunky riffs melt into spiralling solos and ferocious percussion and bass. In contrast, the vocals are a scathing attack of a more death thrash design, spitting fiery tirades that scrape the ears in such a vicious manner.

At their most experimental, Grace Disgraced will spew up a brilliant track such as ‘The Hope’ with its jarring bass which threads via an angular framework of pinched axework and jabbing drums. However, even with the complex designs, it’s still an accessible romp that drags the listener in. ’22 Bloody March’ begins with straight up savagery before injecting an unexpected twist of traditional heavy metal in the solo work.

I’m often hesitant to dive into a lot of technical death metal simply because the structures really can cramp the membranes, but there’s such a great balance here and the clan never sacrifice weight for their streams of technical prowess. Another case in point is ‘Thought Of Pure Revolt’ with its steady thrash rhythms and sudden bursts of speed.

Each instrument bludgeons in equal measure, the bass providing a bone cracking backbone on ‘Inventing The Unkill’, whereas the lumbering ‘The Culture Of Pain’ showcases a trudging manner but speeds in fits and starts. Album closer ‘Time Of True Heroes’ is another great example of a more traditional beginning before the phase into snarling death-thrash consisting of bony bass lines, hurtling drums, pounding riffs and razor sharp vocals.

Without a shadow of a doubt, Grace Disgraced’s latest instalment is one of 2024’s best extreme metal albums.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share