Sinful Accession

I always wonder what it must've been in the Russian tape trading community, how hard it must've been to acquire releases from banned western musicians. Stuff like AC/DC was forbidden back then, imagine what was the deal for death metal. Yet the most hardcore among the metalheads somehow managed to get their hands on some pretty neat tapes, like in this case the most probable influence is Deicide. The musicians from Graveside show off their influences very generously while still using the unique Russian energy present in the then new bands from the scene, thus giving us their only release - Sinful Accession.

Starting with guitars, these are improperly mixed which is pretty normal, as is the case with most releases from the Russian extreme scene (the only exception I can think of is Aspid's Кровоизлияние). They are quite inaudible to the point where you really need to listen in order to make out the riffs. But once you manage to notice those things you see where that comparison to Deicide stems from - syncopated madness of palm-muted fretting on a very rasp tone. If only the guitars were a bit higher in the mix it would've been perfect. And what is actually funny is that the bass is more audible and that actually gives the album a unique sense, these lower frequencies are very "grinding" (if that is a proper description) and follow the guitar for the most part. The drums here are the loudest part of the mix and that would've been problematic if it was Lars Ulrich behind the kit, but it actually amazes me how skilled the drummer is. He is basically the driving force of aggression behind the music, pounding the shit out of each and every percussion instrument. And what I absolutely love about this record is the keyboard, which should've been incorporated not as conservatively as it was. That intro to "Voices of Devastation" literally paints a picture of a cemetery in your head, setting you in the mood for the whole experience (kind of like what Aspid did on their album). The vocals here are also very similar to Deicide's in the sense that they are treated as a musical instrument that can be multi-layered with varying techniques (shrieks and growls) which uses the full potential of harsh vocal technique, a thing I rarely encounter in DM.

So considering the fact these guys aren't native English speakers and their comprehension of the language is mediocre why the fuck would they sing in that specific language? The direct translation with a dictionary here is obvious. Don't do specifically what other bands do, do what YOU can. And that is kind of the problem with the rest of this, those guys really sound like their American influences to the point where you really need to have an ear to discern the specifics of the Russian scene - that is the unique mix of the music resulting from the producers not having any experience with this type of music and the more than basic incorporation of keyboards. It's probably for good that the guys didn't provide any lyrics because it would've ruined the experience if I understood what they were singing. But apart from the slightly repetitive nature of the songs it is an overall enjoyable listen, really.

I know I might be a bit harsh on this album because of my preference for more avant-garde stuff but it really is what it is. And what you should also consider while listening is that the whole thing is somewhat technical, so it might take some 5-6 listens to comprehend the record's nature. So if you really dig this kind of aggressive and eerie stuff go right for it, you are not going to regret it.