Lista de Bandas Black Death Hot Graves Knights in White Phosphorus

It was certainly hard to take Hot Graves seriously initially when looking at their purplish-pink, cartoonish logo, giving one the feeling that this was going to be more of a doom metal album or something rather than an extreme metal album. Being only 3 years old, the band already has a number of releases under their belts, including 2 highly acclaimed demos. Knights in White Phosphorus sees the band using a new logo, more "extreme" and perhaps more fitting to the sound that they present to listeners on their debut full length album.

Dithrash immediately sets the listeners in pace with the heavily, abrasive distorted guitar tone that is reminiscent of Swedish death metal bands and the seemingly random growlings of Myk, backed by the chunky and highly distorted basslines of Tim and the frantic drumming of Matt. Without wasting much time after the short intro track, Hot Graves break into Fully Charged, and their style is introduced to listeners, a perfect fusion of speed, aggression and a nice dose of Satanism and hate.

The riffs of guitarist/vocalist Myk alternate between urgent riffs and heavy, chugging sections that throw one from a state of unease into crushing disparity without much warning. The lead guitars and guitar solos on the album are brilliant executed, with high speed and precision, leaving listeners gasping for breath trying to catch up with the band. The at times chaotic guitar solos and the play on the whammy bar such as on Kill for Satan reminds listeners of thrash metal and their sense of chaos as well. Having the lead guitars high in the mixed with a clear guitar tone certainly helps in making listeners appreciate them more.

Hot Graves has also incorporated fist-pumping moments with catchy choruses and riffing on songs such as Worship the Goat and Bad Blood. The crust influences on the band's music are also obvious throughout the album, with drummer Matt constantly breaking into d-beat patterned drumming when least expected such as on intro track Dirthrash and to a smaller extent, Total War, while at other times blasting his way through the record.

The band also includes some sense of variation on the record with slower sections such as the intro of Blood Eruption displaying the heavier and slightly darker side of the band before they break into their usual madness again. The instrumental track Dirge ov the Apokalyptik Hordes ov the Toxik Damned in particular presents a dirty sound to the listener, not something one would expect with the past 8 tracks of blistering extreme metal, but it seems like speed is their poison of choice, and very soon they go back to the same style as before as soon as the track ends. Desecration Time ends the album on a heavy mood as well, with the slowdown once more to a doom-pace. The bombastic production job and the execution of the songs make it almost hard to believe that this could be coming out of a 3 piece band, yet Hot Graves manages to pull this off, and even do it well.

Despite the large number of tracks on the album, the album runs at less than 40 minutes and this is certainly a suitable album for those with ADD. The seamless incorporation of the different styles of extreme metal into one album is also sure to grab fans of extreme metal in general.