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OLD GRAVE
Alive Again

Old Metal Crypt (2022)
Rating: 7/10

Ad Bestias of Heresiarkhes is the guy behind Old Grave, an Irkutsk, Russia-based one-man death metal project that rattles with bass heavy morbidity while channelling Swedish buzzsaw grimness.

It’s hard to argue with a tried and tested formula, especially when the riffs are so catchy as evidenced on the opening track ‘Winter Curse’. And all which follow are rattling compositions led by dry vocal bellows and chugging catchiness which have more effect when in that mid-tempo groove, although those moments are scant. ‘Asylum Of The Hanged’ and ‘Goat Skull’ are the fastest tracks on offer but I tend to prefer the more laborious moments such as the mammoth traipse of ‘Deadly Gulp’.

At times this record does drift towards the generic but it does remain catchy throughout if somewhat bereft of thrills due to its old school design and dynamics. Alive Again is a solid sophomore outing from Mr. Bestias and one which is comfortable in its own rotten skin.

Neil Arnold

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