Too many bands attach drone to the musical tag they are most associated with. Its a term and addendum to sound used far too often. Its somewhat of a misnomer in this case. The band in this case is Graad, the one man Bolognese black metal band.
Helmed by Boulevard Pasteur in every aspect. Graad's riffs are excellent. The drums are competent. The noise aspect is downplayed, but effective. The vocals are blackened howls befitting any band in the upper echelon of black metals finest. I have to wonder if this should be a full band. I suppose that touring as a black metal band = Less Cvlt. Fair enough.
Graad's songs themselves come together very well. The intro, while unnecessary, conveys the usual bleak atmosphere you come to expect. Holwing winds and whatnot. OK.
Which leads us to Faust. Beginning with a bleak howl to the anti-gods, we're starting off well. Segue into a riff that would not be out of place on a Drudkh album (I love me some Drudkh). The drums speed up, so does the riff, and the howling. Graad is feeling it. The howling, oh the howling. Ending with some beautiful, stand alone picking. Not bad.
The third track is where Graad excels. Every Night We Set Fires leads off with what can only be described as a Tragedy riff. Nice. I respect that. It returns throughout the song, adding guitars that rise triumphantly towards the Dissection scorched heavens. Very. Satisfying.
Track 4 is untitled. It shows them attempting drone. While not by any means bad, it simply feels like an interlude. Until, the sample comes in, that is. The cyclical riff, the pounding drums, the claustrophobia.
In many ways, Graad is attempting two very different sounds. The black metal is top notch. Continued refinement and focus is sure to yield an excellent full length in the future. If they choose to focus on the drone, it's possible Graad could be a fine drone band. But, it would be a shame. There is trve kvlt talent at work here.
Graad also succeeds in writing memorable songs. Not any easy feat in either genre.
The limited cassette was released on NoJoy Records, and is long sold out. You can still hit up the Graad bandcamp page at http://graad.bandcamp.com/. And donate something while your at it, this band needs funds for that full length.
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