Found Remains… Songs from the Grave by Grave Tone Productions (CD)
Mr. Dark
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Performed by Grave Tone Productions
Released by B@Home Wreckordings
Ambient horror metal masters Grave Tone Productions are back!
This latest release, Found Remains… Songs from the Grave, is a collection of eight b-sides and leftovers from previous sessions to hold us over till their next full-length release. (Which promises to be more on the heavy side, per GTP main man Brian Davis.)
As such, what we have is a mixed bag. Like one of those big assortments of trick or treat candy at Halloween, though, it’s a good mix.
Songs like “13th of Forever” and “Hal.low.ween” fall on the more upbeat and modern side, with electronic rhythms balanced out by heavy yet melodic guitar. Throw a vocalist on there, and you might have singles on modern rock radio.
The heavy guitar is never far away on this release, but it takes a backseat to ambience and spooky mood setting on “Death Becoming” and “Harrowing Departure” while “Instruments of Sorrow” finds GTP in their niche with a balance of both.
“Mystery Playhouse” starts out creepy but then sets itself apart as an excursion into “math metal” like you’d find from bands like Meshuggah.
The biggest departure comes in the last two tracks. “The United States of Amurderca” is seemingly an anti-war message combining audio clips with GTP’s dark metal rumble. This one even has a quick burst of death metal blast beats. I could picture this as an instrumental track from one of Ministry’s most recent records between the message and the delivery. “The Wages of War Is Death” is an odd duck: a dirge of courts, with some military march elements thrown in that match it up with the track before it. It’s nice enough, but doesn’t fit either the band or the record.
Collections of outtakes and b-sides are always a little hit and miss, and that’s not any different on Found Remains. Still, it’s got several really solid tracks, and a few standouts that aren’t like anything else GTP have done in the past. It’s worth checking out while we wait for the next full-length release.
ORDER THE CD FROM AMAZON HERE!
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