Italian dark metal outfit Graveworm have returned from its eight year slumber with the release of Killing Innocence, out June 2nd, 2023.
“Escorting The Soul” opens the record with sorrowful piano and strings creating a haunting atmosphere, before industrial-tinged drums and dissonant guitars break through. The track speeds up with manic blast beats and Stefan Fiori’s guttural vocals spewing over some harsh black metal riffs. “We Are The Resistance” is a mid-tempo song with a driving beat and tremolo riffing that heightens the urgency on the track. The distant chorus is both haunting and beautiful.
Graveworm delve into death metal territory on “Wicked Mind.” The manic drumming and hellish riffs recall Fleshcrawl and Dismember. The track slows down during the midsection with relentless drumming and ghostly string samples. “Dead Words” is replete with crunchy, dirge-like riffs in a death-doom metal style. The short but despondent acoustic interlude amplifies the track’s hopeless feeling. “Wrath of Gods” is arguably the most black metal track on this album. The fiery riffs and pugnacious drumming create a whirlwind of chaos. The final track, “In Honour of The Fallen,” shows the band exploring its death-doom influences in the vein of Paradise Lost. The lumbering riffs engulf the listener and would wake the dead.
Graveworm wear its influences on its amplifiers on Killing Innocence. One can hear Paradise Lost, Darkthrone, Slayer, Bolt Thrower, and a slew of other bands in the music. However, Graveworm does not imitate the aforementioned acts, but fuses it together. This creates for a diverse, heavy, and disturbing soundscape on the record. The electric guitars are crunchy with a full sound, while symphonic samples are present and never drowned out.
Killing Innocence is an extreme metal album that offers some sweet, visceral surprises for even veteran metalheads. Graveworm meld death metal’s intensity with the baroque bombast of symphonic metal to stellar effect. Innocence died for a noble, and heavy cause on this album.
Check out the band’s official website for news, merch and tour dates: https://www.graveworm.de/
