Monday 18 April 2016

Grave Miasma - "Endless Pilgrimage" EP (Review)

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: EP
Date Released: 06/05/2016
Label: Sepulchral Voice Records | 
Profound Lore


“Endless Pilgrimage” puts them streets ahead of many of their deathly peers and frankly If you enjoyed Cruciamentum's debut album and are looking for a different take on death metal from the British Isles, this should be your next stop. Deliciously dark and very good.


“Endless Pilgrimage” CD//DD track listing:

1). Yama Transform to the Afterlife
2). Utterance of the Foulest Spirit
3). Purgative Circumvolution
4). Glorification of the Impure
5). Full Moon Dawn

The Review:

England's finest purveyors of death/black nastiness return with this five track EP. To be fair, clocking in at over thirty minutes makes this feel more like an album- but EP is the official line so... Things kick off with “Yama Transforms to Afterlife” which is dark, dense and reverbed all over. Riffs come thick and fast, atonal lead breaks abound and the band sounds suitably demonic.

Make no mistake, tracks such as “Utterance of The Foulest Spirit” are NOTHING like the death metal produced in the US or Sweden. This is more like a speeded up Hooded Menace- it is that dark and unpleasant. Double bass drums roll, vocals growl, beats sound as much black as death- and good to hear a kit which is not just a series of computerised samples, too.

The frantic start to “Purgative Circumvolution” is a direct approach that suits the band and the EP well. Of course, a small amount of this kind of despair and hatred goes a long way. The band have played to their strengths by going for a release of this length. You remember the tracks, it's listenable in one session and it has the directness of a band presenting its best qualities in a short time frame. All of this paragraph also applies to “Glorification of the Impure”, which rages from the off, but takes in twists and turns in time feel. The lead work is again excellent and marks out the band as having their own sound and approach. The screams which end it are unpleasant and unsettling...

“Full Moon Dawn” closes up this unsettling little EP with a more progressive approach- eight minutes of spiky and angular music. Grave Miasma are a fine band and have their own sound- this puts them streets ahead of many of their deathly peers, frankly. If you enjoyed Cruciamentum's debut album and are looking for a different take on death metal from the British Isles, this should be your next stop. Deliciously dark and very good. 


Endless Pilgrimage” is available here


Band info: bandcamp || facebook