The second album by Swedish retro blues-rock band
Graveyard finds them moving from the stoner rock-identified Tee Pee label to the more traditionally metallic
Nuclear Blast. They haven't changed their sound one bit, though; they still sound like a lost band from 1971, somewhere between the U.K.-based
Groundhogs and their fellow Swedes in
November. The easiest modern comparison would be to
Witchcraft, but
Witchcraft's more occult lyrical focus, and influence from heavier acts like
Pentagram, sets them apart from
Graveyard's bare-bones boogie, which falls closer to
Horisont. The title track of this album finds
Graveyard at their most rip-roaring, offering a thunderous riff and some stinging guitar soloing. Other tracks throw little stylistic tweaks (background vocals on "Buying Truth [Tack & Förlåt]") into the mix, but the basic formula stays the same. "Longing" is the token ballad, an instrumental with some whistling and subtle organ giving it an
Ennio Morricone-ish desolation. The album ends with the one-two punch of the hard-rocking "RSS" and the atmospheric, shifting (it starts soft and gets very loud), six-minute "The Siren," an excellent showcase for the band's skilled rhythm section.
Graveyard should be heard by any fan of retro hard rock. ~ Phil Freeman