Grave’s last album, Endless Procession of Souls, was one of the band’s better records since its 2002 reformation. Endless didn’t exactly rock the boat stylistically, but perhaps owing to the addition of then-new guitarist Mika Lagren, the album sounded fresher and seemed to have more fire than the band’s previous couple of efforts. And so I was eager to hear if the next album could maintain this momentum. However, it would be a longer wait than expected as the steady-rolling Grave train was unexpectedly derailed when, in late 2014, long-time drummer Ronnie Bergerståhl collapsed and spent four weeks in a coma. Happily, Ronnie has recovered — less than a year since the incident, Grave has resumed gigging, and the band’s new album, Out of Respect for the Dead is upon us.
I would love to tell you that Grave emerged from this recent period of turmoil with a raging beast of a record. I have in fact tried for two months to come to that conclusion, but to no avail. Out of Respect for the Dead is a pretty typical late-period Grave album. That isn’t a bad thing, as there is certainly something to be said for reliability, but it’s not, after almost a quarter century, a particularly exciting thing.
In many ways, however, Out of Respect for the Dead gets things right. Sonically, these tunes come out of the speakers with authority. The sound is clear and punchy, but also suitably massive and imposing. Grave also does a good job of varying the tempo. The band has often danced pretty close to the doom-death end of the death metal spectrum, and there is plenty of the slow, heavy stuff on Out of Respect for the Dead, the nearly ten minute closer “Grotesque Glory” being a prime example. However, songs such as “Redeemed Through Hate,” “Mass Grave” and the title track all haul ass for at least some portion of their running time.
Where Out of Respect for the Dead really falters is in its lack of memorable, engaging riffs. For a band like Grave, that is a crippling deficit. In over twenty five years, Grave has hardly made so much as a sly wink at melody, solos have never been a focal point, and while Ola Lindgen is the soul of the band, he’ll always be its second-best singer, and certainly not a source of any sort of vocal hook. So riffs are it, and though Out of Respect for the Dead has plenty of serviceable riffage, there is precious little here that will stick with you after the album is over.
Out of Respect for the Dead has most of what you are looking for from a Grave album, but after Endless Procession of Souls, with its standout tracks like “Perimortem” and “Winds of Chains,” it is hard to see this album as anything other than a mild disappointment. I have a whole bunch of Grave albums on my shelf, and there is little on Out of Respect for the Dead other than soon-to-fade novelty that would compel me to reach for it over the band’s many other superior efforts. Better luck, and hopefully, better riffs next time.
