Nocturnal Graves – …From the Bloodline of Cain
One extreme sub-genre can serve well as the temporary antidote for another, and I’ve been looking for a cure for the wobbly-string, down-tuned Death I usually enjoy, but am hearing too much of as of late. Enter the ear-cleansing pure Australian black/death/thrash of Nocturnal Graves. Head honcho Jarro Raphael played drums on (among many other things) Deströyer 666’s amazing Phoenix Rising and the preceding 1998 EP Satanic Speed Metal, and what you’ll find here is close in spirit with the tenets of that band (though perhaps a bit more straight-thrash infused): …From the Bloodline of Cain is sharp, relentless, and, to these old ears, catchy – as much as Satanic-themed music can be, at any rate. Jarro’s (aka ‘Nuclear Exterminator’) arsenal in this band consists of bass and lead vocals, having handed guitar duties over to Denouncement Pyre’s D. and Shrapnel (also formerly of Deströyer 666) since 2007’s Satan’s Cross. Their riffs, dutifully lain upon …From the Bloodline of Cain have that standard-tuned, precise, ‘quickness’ in execution found in Teutonic thrash, and Jarro’s vocals, while yelled and retched with aplomb, remain intelligible and memorable. The bass thunders along (though not as high in the mix as I’d like), backed with a percussion attack straight from the South American sounds of extremity. All of which is nothing new, but the professional approach and attention to detail sets this release apart. From the thrash salvos of ‘Promethean War’, replete with machine-gun picking and a brief-and-clean (hammer-on?) scale sewn in the verse riff, you’ll be transported to the locomotive brutality of the days of early ’80s death/thrash, with just a few particles of black chording thrown in as anti-sweetener. Cracking bones with a flourish that can only come with experience and good classic taste, Nocturnal Graves create real songs that don’t disappear into forgettable, disjointed riffery; the tracks of …From the Bloodline of Cain drill into your skull and lay maggot larvae in your brain in much the same way songs of Sodom, Possessed, Sarcophago and Show No Mercy-Slayer once did. It’s refreshing to hear the discernible song structures of the black/death/thrash sound with songs that clearly are new. Jarro and co. know their craft well, and …From the Bloodline of Cain fills my prescription for a necessary respite from the cooling-lava Death Metal I’ve been spinning (which I still love, mind you…). -Jim
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