My Own Grave
Unholy
7.5
After a slew of demos since their inception in 2001, Sweden's My Own Grave finally released their debut album Unleash, in 2006 and followed it up with this short but sharp EP in 2007.
While the current thrash revival is getting all the attention of late, quietly, the classic Swedish styled death metal sound is undergoing a bit of a rebirth with the likes of Evocation, Fleshcrawl, Demonical, Nominon (also the upcoming Bloodbath) and even America’s own Fatalist as well as the masters Entombed and Dismember delivering reenergized releases. Add to that group My Own Grave, who with this tasty little EP show 'that' sound with an added burst of high-octane death thrash, making for a damn solid mix.
While not having quite the obvious sunlight buzz, but close in slicing whirling tone, the five tracks on Unholy are bit more up tempo, more polished, and less moody than typical Stockholm death metal, but still have the same undercurrent of nasty throes and melodic hum lurking underneath the more chunky thrash exterior. This especially shows vocally, and more often than not, moments of Stockholm menace do surface as heard on “Beneath Dark Waves”, “God Forbid” and closer “Cross After Cross.” You can even hear some Vader influences in the likes of “Above the Weak.”
Overall a stout if short offering that shows the band's tighter, more clinical, shinier new direction, but still definite Stockholm tone and shows promise for an upcoming full length that should reward the band for their persistence and hard work assuming it fulfills the potential of this EP.
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