Categories
RECORD REVIEWS

GRAVEYARD: Graveyard [Tee Pee]

By plundering Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer and Leafhound riffs and sprinkling the grunge ashes of Soundgarden over the prog/metal of Salem Mass, this Swedish quartet believes it has resurrected the corpse of heady ’70s blues rock. Instead, listeners are subjected to a toothless and nontoxic attempt at running with the devil. Kick- starting this bong-toting witchcraft ritual with the brutal Stegosaurus stomp of “Evil Ways” and the hellacious, psychedelic “Thin Line,” Graveyard initially seems headed for the grim reaper’s finest funeral march. But a too-apparent Chris Cornell fixation on laughable Ouija Board fodder (the doom-laden “Lost In Confusion,” the balls-in-a-vise screech of “Satan’s Finest”) coupled with unexpected and surreal psych/folk ramble (“Blue Soul”) fails to cast an evil spell and is neither menacing nor highly imaginative. Thankfully, ominous voyage “Submarine Blues” saves this séance from stoner-rock purgatory. Why subject your auditory canals to retro acid-rock crud like Graveyard when you can seek out reissues by far superior and more wicked groups like Pentagram? [www.teepeerecords.com]

—Ron Bally