Graveyard return after five years with a new, numerically titled, album, their sixth.
Everyone got interrupted by the worldwide pestilence, and Graveyard was no exception. Speaking about the new album, the band remarks, “We had plans to start recording or writing an album before the pandemic started, but then everything shut down. Maybe we shut down too, you know? We couldn’t make any money from playing anymore, so everybody started getting jobs and stuff like that, and everything took a lot longer than was expected. During the recording we had a Covid scare and we had to cancel things for a while, so it all took a long while, but mostly because we didn’t have time. We were working and taking care of family, whatever was needed most.” A familiar story for many people. The hard rock quartet from Sweden is back now, however, and their new album is one of the best they have created so far. The band is Joakim Nilsson (guitar, vocals), Jonatan Ramm (guitar), Rikard Edlund (bass), and Axel Sjöberg (drums).
“Godnatt” is a fascinating way to open the set – it is quiet and sad, easing listeners into a melancholy state at the jump. “Twice” follows, and it’s a rocker, now, mood-shifting us into a different space. This song reminds me a little bit of The Cult. It is the perfect radio bite. “I Follow You” is a solemn desert rock song. The music is itself wary, and it puts you in that frame of mind. Deep echoes and insinuations send up warning flags in your periphery as you move along. Then the music shifts into more of a cooker, and you feel a little more secure, but there is still something about this story that is sinister. “Breathe In Breathe Out” adds backing vocals to create even more depth, and “Sad Song” is every bit the title.
The music on this album is reserved, but only in the sense of boundary and precision. The range of emotions it invokes is noticeably wide, and the styles employed walk on all sides of the line. “Just A Drop” has a fierceness I did not see coming, while “Bright Lights,” on the other hand, gently wakens quiet spirits. “No Way Out” works diligently on a big build, and the bluesy “Rampant Fields” is the cue for the curtain. All in all, 6 is another solid Graveyard album that has new takes and old familiarities. Recommended.
The new album from Graveyard is out on Friday, September 29th through Nuclear Blast Records. Listen and buy at the links below.
Links.
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/graveyardofficial/
Nuclear Blast Records, https://www.nuclearblast.de/band/graveyard
© Wayne Edwards