Arkansas-based death metallers Vore have returned with “Gravehammer”, their first full-length album in seven years. Yet despite the long hiatus, not much as changed within the band, their music continues to be brutal, direct and rooted in old-school aesthetics. The band’s primary focus was always more on creating mid-paced, brutal, chugging riffs that could crush the eardrums of listeners, rather than engaging in a ceaseless show-off of speed and virtuosity. That said, “Gravehammer” is a great accomplishment, providing aggression in abundance.
Album opener, “The Cruelest Construct” features that traditional, raw death style those long-time Vore listeners crave, offering a massive chugging guitar groove and pounding, hammering rhythms, along with Page Townsley’s deep, gurgled gutturals. “Doomwhore” surges with a steady, militaristic rhythm that sounds like a demonic march, while the riffing ranges from a slow-punishing groove to some brutal and visceral death metal.
The band's less-is-more approach to song writing, as well as their infectious, well-structured death metal sound, makes of “Gravehammer” a rather captivating and triumphant return. Well Done! (7.4/10)
David Alexandre
Band info: www.vore.org
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