Seeding Will

Frozen Graves is a recently formed black metal project based in Tampere in central Finland but - surprise, surprise - I've met (not literally of course, just through all these reviews I do, y'unnerstand) one of its members, the wonderfully titled Luxixul Sumerul Auter (say what?!), in a review of a Cosmic Church recording only a couple of months ago. My world is definitely getting a lot smaller, I need to expand my horizons more if I keep on meeting the same people over and over and much faster than before. "Seeding Will" is Frozen Graves' first recording so far, issued on cassette; as is common with a lot of cassette recordings these days, the music repeats in its entirety on the second side.

"Stone to Stone" is a lengthy opener but it seems more like two tracks crammed into one, the first couple of minutes being morose droning low-end synth tone ambience swathed in mist and spooky ethereal outer-space wash that collapse into hard-hitting grunge raw black metal thunder and pummel. The bass and drums lay down a thick grinding foundation for rough vocal and scrabbling tremolo guitar to wail over. Cold airy keyboard swash paints a bleak sheen over this hard-grinding BM rock-out; the bass riffing has a definite groove beneath the tinny, trashy guitar sound, giving the music an unexpected pop-catchy feel beneath the melancholy. "In Service of the Lost Gods" doesn't sound very different - it actually sounds more rock'n'roll and again the bass riffing holds your attention throughout the track. The guitars are as rough and noisy as ever and the vocals carry on with their harangue.

The title track is a bit looser than the others with lots of thumping tom-toms, noisier trash guitar showers and more emotional and atmospheric music. Low-end synth adds drama and the two members rely more on the mix of ambient keyboard work and wailing guitars to create intense melancholy. It's a bit of a shame that this ends a bit too suddenly to make way for an all-ambient conclusion that doesn't really agree with the garage BM that's supposed to be its evil twin in the track.

Fans of minimal melodic Finnish BM are sure to be interested in this new(ish) member of the pack: the band's technical chops are good and consistent, and the emphasis is on catchy, almost danceworthy melodies and riffs. There is a definite groove on all three tracks and the band's sound is very solid and robust. As you might expect with this genre of Finnish BM, the band's sound is clear and sharp, though not too much so. The use of keyboards to provide background mood does distinguish Frozen Graves from other compatriot bands but if the duo are in for the long haul, they need to consider varying their style more and go for a more distinctive sound.

As it is, the demo does need to be a bit longer and the title track especially could have been three times its length for a fuller, more improvisational treatment. But it's not a bad release and if you do come across it, it's worth listening to a few times. Perhaps the songs can be reworked into longer, more substantial pieces on a later album.