In the Sleep of Death
Alongside
Mourning Beloveth (who are kings), this band is the best the country
of Ireland has to offer as far as doom/death is concerned. It’s a
shame that they had so many issues during their career and only
managed to release one full length and 3 Eps/demos, this is their
latest record released last year and like all their stuff it’s
pretty damn great. In fact, Ireland has produced so many good bands
for such a small scene, Primordial remains one of the best act on the
planet.
Obviously
inspired by the Peaceville three from the other side of the Celtic
Sea (or the Irish Sea), you can definitely hear the influence of
early Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride here and their music has
always been almost as good as “Turn Loose the Swans” or “Gothic”,
their 2007 extended play “Shadows of Old Ghosts” is particularly
stellar. This one, while not as interesting (perhaps due to the
passage of time), is still immensely good and I hope they’re
working on a new album. I do think their genre is somewhat exhausting
though, For Grace or Damnation is
a decent album but one hour
of despair is sometimes hard to digest. I think their approach works
better with a shorter format
as it’s music highly related to a particular, exhausting mood. Some
bands, never mind their quality, just don’t work as well for an
extended period of time, Graveyard Dirt are possibly one of them.
It’s probably why I think this EP is just the right dose!
The album is divided in two
sections, two shorter tracks start the album and it concludes with
the longer number and it
never gets too much or boring.
If you’re familiar with doom/death, you’ll be right at home here. Their formula is a bit like MDB at their heaviest (see “The Dreadful Hours”), it’s long songs full of romanticism, varied vocal approaches and an inviting dark mood, you really want to dress like a 1450 English nobleman who just visits the grave of his dead wife everyday while you’re listening to ‘em.
Paul Leyden simply freaking rocks at the mic, his clean vocals are more ballsy than Aaron Stainthorpe and his harsh vocals are even better than those of the old version of Thomas Gabriel Fischer. In fact the last track “The Sirens Refrain” sounds like a more natural rendition of Triptykon’s gothic extreme metal. While the musicianship has nothing to be ashamed of (it’s pretty solid), he’s the best thing about this band.
While it’s certainly nothing groundbreaking for 2015, it’s well done doom that will surely please any fans of ballsy sad guy metal. It’s still better than Pallbearer! Basically mix the Peaceville sound with modern Tom G. Warrior ughs and you got the sound of Graveyard Dirt.
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