Freshly signed to Relapse Records, Graves of Valor is a new group from South Carolina-US featuring former members of Through the Eyes of the Dead, a band that falls under the over-packed genre of death-core. I assume musical differences weren’t the basis of their decision to leave Through the Eyes of the Dead and start a new project ‘cause save for a thing or two, Graves of Valor practise the same low-end formulaic death-metal with modern touches of their former band.Their debut full-length work “Salarian Gate” is well composed and proficiently executed that’s a fact, Graves of Valor know what they’re doing and they’re good at it, though they don’t come up with anything that we haven’t heard a million times before. Throughout 11 tracks you can experience straight-ahead blastbeats, grinding breakdowns, palm-muted chugging, swirling and vicious solos, guttural vocals intertwined with high-pitched screams. The band does seem to have an interesting lyrical concept about the Western Roman Empire, but elsewhere it is business as usual for a modern death-metal group, okay to crank out it once in awhile, but inefficient in inducing the appetite for repeated and constant listens. (5/10)
Band info: www.myspace.com/FROMGRAVESOFVALOR
Label info: www.relapse.com
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