Review Summary: Solid, well-written, well-performed black metal... but nothing unique.
When Graveworm released
As Angels Reach the Beauty back in 1999, I believe they were on the cusp of something great. Especially for the time, it featured a unique blend of death and black metal vocals over a very accessible brand of melodic black metal dominated by huge melodies driven by keyboards, piano, violins, and cello. This album was almost entirely written with their keyboardist Sabine Mair, but for whatever reason she almost never wrote for Graveworm again. This did not bode well for the band, as they quickly dropped all their accessible elements and traded away everything that was unique in favor of a more visceral riff-based black metal sound. Every album after
As Angels Reach the Beauty was still good, but without anything to help them stand out they had relegated themselves to just another black metal band in a sea of copycats eventually fading away after their 2015 release.
However, after an eight-year hiatus, Graveworm have returned with
Killing Innocence; picking up right where their 2015 release left off. What that means is we’re treated to another solid death / black hybrid that doesn’t really do anything spectacular while still managing to be entertaining. Even after eight years, all the modern Graveworm elements are still present. Vocalist Stefano Fiori still delivers his vocals in a near-even split of death growls and black metal shrieks. The guitar melodies still pull liberally from the nineties while the riffs borrow more from death and thrash. If there is an improvement over the last few albums, it’s the quality of the keyboard melodies. They’re still nowhere as good as when Sabine was in the band (she finally left in 2012), but they are more memorable and tastefully done than they’ve been in a while, pulling more from the band’s gothic roots than their more modern formula. Unfortunately, after eight years, the same problems still exist, as well.
Killing Innocence is still the same wall of sound the band have delivered for over two decades, severely lacking in dynamics or anything else that might really set one song apart from another. The vocals, despite featuring two different styles, are also very two-dimensional, rarely changing in tone or delivery.
I believe Graveworm could have been one of the classic nineties black metal bands, but their sound took a turn for the generic. Each release after
As Angels Reach the Beauty seemed to struggle with finding an identity, and that hasn’t changed with
Killing Innocence. What has changed is that Graveworm is delivering their formula with more conviction and energy than they have in a long time. Despite the songs still lacking any unique features, they’re all solid, well-written, and well performed. Additionally,
Killing Innocence features one of the band’s best productions, hitting with meaty riffs, pounding percussion, and a subtle layer of synths. Even with an eight-year gap, Graveworm fans should know exactly what to expect – no-frills death / black metal that is capably done, but nothing groundbreaking. If this is your first foray into the sound of Graveworm, it’s not a bad place to start as it is easily as good as just about anything else they’ve released.
