Graveyard

Lights Out

NuclearBlast

Swedish band Graveyard returns us to the blues boom-infused metal of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple but are contemporary enough to trawl through a version of sludge-metal that is less urgent than The Melvins, not as sharp as Clutch but should appeal to fans of those bands.

In fact it’s Badmotorfinger via Sabbath Bloody Sabbath with just a bit of the garage-rock ethos of countrymen The Hellacopters.

And if that feels like your sort of sound, or as Bob Ryan of Entourage might say, something you might be interested in, then this album, the band’s third, is going to be so far up your alley there may need to be a call made to have it surgically removed.

Opener, An Industry Of Murder, sets something of the tone but Goliath does a better job of showing just how well Graveyard has harnessed the 1970s. They have something of the Sabbath sound but have sidestepped the doom and gloom.

Meanwhile, Hard Time Lovin’, shows when they slow things down and take a different tack something magical happens. You could imagine this, with a bit of a Mark Lanegan feel happening, appearing on a new Nick Cave album, it might have been Grinderman if they weren’t so determined to do it all with their tongues in cheek.

Lots to like here. And probably, let’s face it, a far more satisfying listen than the new Soundgarden record, right? Well I feel like I’ll be listening to this album for a lot longer at any rate.