Rating: 8.2

Country: USA

Release Date: 2005

Record Label: Barbarian Wrath

Track list:
1. The Spiral Tower
2. Legend
3. Amongst The Dead
4. Iron Clans
5. Lair Of Cerberus
6. Abrupt Fall Of The Holy Kingdom
7. Rise Of The Goatlord
8. Dethroned And Buried
9. Warslut
10. Under The Hammer Of War
11. Triumphant Exile

Band Website: Gravewurm

Gravewurm - Under The Banner of War

Funeral - Plague of 6 strings and vokill annihilation
Zyklon - Bestial bass and morbid screams
Goatblood - War-marching procession (live tracks only)

Of all the bands currently ploughing their trade in the underground, VERY few are as rabidly single-minded and fiercely primeval as Gravewurm, a band that, through the course of three disgustingly raw records, have eclipsed even Nunslaughter and Sathanas with their blasphemous brand of putrescence. From their demo days, it has been clear that Gravewurm exists for one solitary purpose- to spew black hatred all over the human race, cohering unbridled misanthropy in the form of ultra-simplistic, totally harsh death metal. Let me put it this way: if Nunslaughter or Master put you off, Gravewurm will make you incurably nauseous. TURN BACK NOW!

To those of you still with me, I congratulate and salute you for the size of your testicles (ladies, you put most men to shame!). The formula of a Gravewurm album is really quite simple, and doesn't require much verbose explication: this is hideous death metal in its EARLIEST incarnation. By this I mean the ORIGINATORS of death metal, Hellhammer, Goatlord, Deathstrike, War Cry, Master, demo/'In The Sign Of Evil' EP Sodom. Do not attempt to unearth intricate melodies or expect angular structures here, this is grotesquely simple and morbidly crusty stuff that compacts death metal to its purest, most hateful form, and in turn outdoes 99% of its more technical contemporaries in sheer ingénue and conviction.

This isn't to say that Gravewurm are ALL hack n'slash debauchery- like said bands, Gravewurm understand the impact of primordial, agonizing rhythms, exhibited most clearly in the funeral dirge that is “Lair Of Cerberus”, a 4 minute insidious hymn of truly affecting, lumbering proportions, juxtaposing blistering speed with a desolate, sprawling main section that echoes all the mournful, ethereal haplessness of Hellhammer's vintage output. One also may notice that the production is quite a bit more palatable than previous excursions, which tended to be a little too raw even for my tastes, as well as lacking the brutal heft to give Gravewurm's uncompromising blasphemy the depth it deserves. While retaining the unique filth that has encrusted all Gravewurm's work to date, the production is thicker and more urgent than it has ever been, lending much sonic weight to the thrashy riffage and deliberate rhythms that dominate the record.

Loads of headbanging riffage here, from the insistent Sodom worship of “The Spiral Tower” to the more foreboding and monumental work on “Legend” (which recalls 'Morbid Tales' era Celtic Frost far more than anything Hellhammer) and the slightly early Bathory feel of “Rise Of The Goatloard” (a homage to an influence? Hehe). For such an unapologetically traditionalist band, Gravewurm have made quite a bit of progress from their last record, 'Into Battle'. They show a much keener sense of dynamics, balancing sluggish “Triumph Of Death” passages with more upbeat Master-like sections, as well as throwing the odd curveball here and there that denotes a sensitivity for more eerie ornamentations (ie the opening intro/refraining passage of “Rise Of The Goatlord”). Sure, much of it is unashamed ancient death metal with absolutely no regard for subtlety or current palates, but it's not ALL shameless traditionalist fare here.

While this is clearly a band you need to be in the mood for (as much as I adore each of the bands Gravewurm references without abandon here, I am not always in the right state of mind for Gravewurm's filth-ridden assault), there is perhaps NO band that captures ancient, pure death metal quite the way that Gravewurm does. A band that manages to make even Nunslaughter seem like Anacrusis is certainly worthy of your money if you are at all interested in sincere, honest metal, and this being the very finest work they've issued to date, I have no qualms in giving this my heartiest recommendations. If you like Apokalyptic Raids, Incriminated, Necro Schizma and Nunslaughter, this is REQUIRED LISTENING. Unique Leader whores- stay CLEAR!

August 11th, 2005