EP Review: War Grave - War Grave
Reviewed by Drew McCarthy
Starting life three years ago and releasing a couple of singles last year, London Heavy Metal band, War Grave are now ready to show the world of metal just what they are made of as they prepare to unveil their self titled debut EP.
The opening song of the EP, War Graves is like a punch to the face, thundering, powerful drumming combines with almost thrash metal-esque riffing and vocals, that to me are reminiscent of Joey Belladonna from Anthrax. Enchained is a song comprised of almost super human guitar playing, melodic yet powerful drumming and at times falsetto vocals, which almost pushes the song into the realm of power metal.
Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, former vocalist of both Iced Earth and Judas Priest, and current vocalist of KK’s Priest, lends his impressive vocals to the song, The Witch. A song that tells a story of being entranced by a woman from the stuff of nightmares and giving yourself entirely to her. What impressed me the most about The Witch, is even though there is a contrast in vocals between Owens and Roman Kantoch of War Grave, is just how well both their differing styles worked together.
Revenge Is Near is chock-full of teutonic riffs and a drumming style that coincidentally reminded me of the drumming found on Run To The Hills by Iron Maiden. The incredibly detailed artwork of the EP is something that I loved immediately, each song on the EP being represented by a character, each one relating to a different song.
However, what astounded me the most about War Grave, is the fact that this does not sound like the work of a band that have just started. War Grave sound like a band that have been doing this for years and whilst they have clearly taken influence from the Heavy Metal legends of the past, they have managed to create a body of work that is sure to get both older and newer fans of metal raising their horns. War Grave are definitely a band to keep an eye on.
