Stronger than Love

Although criticism regarding technology is often justified, you’ll have to admit that if it weren’t for the internet, several obscure metal gems probably had not been discovered by a wider audience. Latvia’s Grindmaster Dead are a perfect example of such; having independently released only one album, there’s no way you’d stumble upon this, had you been around in the 90’s.

Calling Stronger than Love an obscure classic would be far-fetched, but this is yet another doom/death metal of its time that seems to be buried and forgotten. Of course none of this would be relevant if Grindmaster Dead had no clue about doom and gloom, but I can assure you that they’ve paid attention to the great bands that released albums earlier. The band never forgets to put the emphasis on the doom metal aspect (something that plenty of doom/death metal bands had forgotten about), as the heavy load of crushing riffs could only emerge from this genre and no other. ‘’At the Wizard’s Sabbath’’ opens up with the same creep-o-rama of Black Sabbath’s self-titled track itself and ‘’Under the Willow Tree’’ nods towards ‘’Children of the Grave’’, albeit it also displays some death metal riffs along the ride.

While Grindmaster Dead weren't the only ones that wore their influences on their sleeve and their signature riffing may not be completely original, the band certainly knows how to put these to good use. I’ll admit that the death metal sections don’t provide me that sense of satisfaction that I get out albums such as Last One on Earth or As the Flower Withers, yet most of these add an additional dimension to the sound that I’m certainly fond of. Tracks like the melodic whirlwind of ‘’This Realm of Silence’’ and the ‘’Children of the Grave'' / death metal hybrid of ‘’Under the Willow Tree’’ highlight that Grindmaster Dead manage to rely on the strengths of both sub-styles. Only ‘’Summer Gods’’ hints no sign of doom whatsoever and despite that solid bouncy intro riff and smashing drums, the track ends up far more generic than the rest due to its been-there-done-that tremolo riffing that by 1994 wasn’t really note-worthy anymore.

One filler aside, generally the slow riffs refrain from plodding onward with no intent, while the death metal riffs contribute to the compositions’ requirements instead of ruining momentum. Just behold how the semi-epic title track demolishes onward with those grinding riffs, only to fire off some frenzy tremolo riffing around the two minute mark, yet the final two minutes of the track are the most specular. Hearing those slow riffs groan next to those creepy flutes, while spoken word passages, fragile female vocals and bellowing grunts collide is truly moving; as if I’m listening to an tragic tale that harkens all the way back to a forgotten Latvian village. Indeed, the use of additional instruments make Stronger than Love sound grim and gloomy, yet extremely unique; there’s no way you’d mistake this album for a lost Peaceville Three record, nor does the atmosphere feels connected to that of what the Swedes were doing around this time.

Of course, the production also plays a big role here, as it makes the record sound way older than it actually is. You've heard more massive guitar tones, yet this rough tone works ideally and I can easily excuse the cheap-sounding flute. That said, the production allows these compositions to perfectly capture the essence of the semi-evocative cover artwork. Latin spoken passages recall religious experiences during times of uncertainty, while the general song titles recall the myths of old (with the exception of the titled track, of course).

You’ve guessed it; I’d have liked to have heard a follow-up to Stronger than Love, because this is one hell of an interesting record. If doom/death metal is your thing, then this hidden gem should certainly add some value to your life.

This review was originally written for antichristmagazine.com

Is it weird that probably my favorite death/doom album is this completely unknown full-length from Latvia? Probably. I certainly won't say it's the best death/doom album, objectively; classics like Gothic, Turn Loose the Swans, and Dance of December Souls certainly have their merit, and I'm not going to make any wildly hyperbolic statements like "Stronger than Love shits all over all of those!!" or anything like that, but for me personally, it is certainly a favorite, only really rivaled by Tiamat's Clouds in my mind, as of the writing of this (I'm hardly a death/doom connoisseur, so certainly it's possible there are albums out there that I'd enjoy more). However much one might like it, though, there's no question that Stronger than Love is rather unique, in that it has a significant amount of flute accompanying the death/doom riffs and low growls. Make no mistake, this isn't symphonic metal in the least - it's about 85% pure death/doom, with heavy emphasis on the death, the only exception being the flutes. In fact, it's the sort of death/doom I'd least expect to have something of the sort - raw production, bone dry guitar tone, deep death growls with very few cleans accompanying, and as I said a very strong death metal influence. Yet the flute is there nonetheless, and I happen to think it works quite well - because of the style, I think, not in spite of it, since that strange, strange juxtaposition makes it even more unusual and inimitable. The riffs and vocals are still good, but the addition of the flutes are what makes it truly special; it's highly possible I would have just passed over the band without them, with a thought somewhat along the lines of "Hmm, this is pretty good, but it doesn't really stand out." To be fair, the rest of the music isn't generic at all, but given my rather new and fairly timid relationship with death metal, I could certainly see myself having dismissed it on that basis alone.

I suppose if this were black metal I'd refer to it as "kvlt"; the lo-fi artwork, the relative obscurity of the band, the rawness of the production, perhaps even the time of the release (pretty early on the death/doom scene, though by no means among the first) could contribute towards that sort of mysterious, awed "kvlt" status. I suppose the Grindmaster Dead name might be more well-known than what I'm describing, considering the band went on to be much more well-known folk/black metal act Skyforger. Serious fans probably at least know that they had a different name early on, and that it was more in the death/doom spectrum - but how many have actually listened to it? To the casual metal listener, death/doom and black/folk might seem relatively similar, considering they're both extreme metal and, what's more, of the two most classic subgenres to associate with extreme metal (death metal and black metal). However, to the more serious listener, clearly there's a strong difference between the two, and a fan of Skyforger's black/folk stuff might not be into death/doom at all, or at least not think that the guys from Skyforger weren't capable of something so different in tone. I don't know for sure; this is pure speculation, but it wouldn't surprise me.

So finally, more specifics about the music. Vocalist Konstantīns Švedovs does a good job here, but given my aforementioned tenuous relationship with death metal, I couldn't really specifically say how good he is in comparison to other death metal vocalists/growlers, nor really make an accurate comparison based on his particular style of growling. From what I do know, he sounds very OSDM, which would make sense given the time frame, but I can't be any more accurate than that with my current knowledge. As you can probably guess, but I'll say it anyway, this is less in the vein of Gothic or Clouds - with at least equal emphasis on the doom metal part - and more (ironically) Lost Paradise. Despite the fact that I used Gothic for contrast and Lost Paradise for comparison, I do think that's fairly accurate. There may be an album out there that's more similar to Stronger than Love than Lost Paradise is, but if so I haven't heard it. Just a slow, hopeless, ominous feeling that's still rather solidly in the DM camp, with maybe 25-30% doom metal. There are occasional clean male and female clean vocals, but they only pop up in 2 places here. Really, this album is just exactly what I want it to be; short and compact enough that it doesn't overstay its welcome, use of cleans and flute but not so much that it's overpowering, and a strong death/doom atmosphere. If you're a fan of death/doom and you're unaware of this fine album , I'd suggest giving it a go.