(written by Islander)
To cut to the chase: You are about to hear one of the most thoroughly exhilarating, constantly surprising, and utterly devilish albums this baby of a new year has yet given us. We will be lucky indeed if the rest of the year gives us anything else that’s this much fiendish fun.
What we’re referring to is Shrines of Hatred, the second full-length of Grave Altar from South-West UK that’s coming out on January 13th via the Vicious Witch label. “Black/Thrash” is the genre label that will be affixed to it, but it’s better called Black Magic.
Grave Altar introduce their new album with a two-minute piece that sounds like a journey through a veil into a dimension of horror. Hideous voices scream, wail, and utter haunted and hideous proclamations in the midst of moaning and shivering decibels.
After that frightening “Intro” track Grave Altar race through seven savage songs, each of them in the 3-4 minute range. They have some things in common, but there are also constant changes within every one of them.
The common features include gritty and rabid vocals that viciously and fanatically howl the blasphemous words at high speed (with some belly-deep grunts and infernal laughs in the mix); furiously hammering, rapidly rumbling, and punkishly scampering drums; prominent and nimble bass-lines which continually grab attention; and devilish, high-toned riffing that’s chameleon-like in its appearance — which is to say it’s always morphing.
Guitarist (and vocalist) Krow can thrash up a storm, but is equally adept at causing the riffs to feverishly blurt, to brazenly blare, to slash and swirl, and to ring like very sinister chimes. In all of its phases, the fretwork sounds diabolical, and often fiendishly ecstatic.
Backed by such an interesting and electrifying rhythm section, and fronted by such deranged vocal expulsions (like a potent amalgam of alcohol and rage), the songs are an addictive thrill to hear, and as noted, the band switch things up within the songs so frequently that they’ll keep listeners perched on the edge of seats, not entirely sure what’s going to happen next.
All these ever-changing musical and vocal ingredients stand out, thanks to a production that gives them a co-equal presence in the mix. And thanks to that clarity, it becomes evident that while the music has a loose and wild (and very punk) character, the performances are tight and the tempo changes sharp. And while the guitar has a piercing and cutting quality, it’s not too clean — just grimy enough to remind us this is hell’s music.
As noted above, the songs are fairly compact, and that’s another strength: None of them wears out its welcome. You could pick out any one of them to play and get hooked quickly, and by the time the album ends it’s damned easy to just circle back to the start and have another go.
Speaking of getting hooked, these are very addictive tracks. As you may know, we have a year-end list of “most infectious” extreme metal songs (in fact, we’re in the middle of rolling out he 2024 list now), and every one of these songs after the Intro could be a clear candidate to make the 2025 list. If I thought too much about it right now, my head would hurt. Much better to just have a blast running through the album again — which you can also do right now:
GRAVE ALTAR:
Krow (guitar/vocals)
Fiend (drums)
Maniac (bass, since 2018)
To repeat, Shrines of Hatred will be released on January 13th by Vicious Witch Records, on CD. For more info about the album and how to get it, keep an eye on the locations linked below.
VICIOUS WITCH:
https://viciouswitch.com/
https://viciouswitchrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/viciouswitchrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/viciouswitchrecords/
GRAVE ALTAR:
https://www.facebook.com/GraveAltar/
https://gravealtar.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/gravealtarofficial/