Oceangrave - The Buried Inheritance

Oceangrave is a death/doom metal band from Italy, a project headed by one band Matteo Manfredini. Daniele Lupidi (Valgrind, Hateful, Huronian) once again provides bass and he is also did the album's excellent cover art. As solid as their debut, "Fall Breathless To No Where" was, this second full length album, "The Buried Inheritance," is huge leap in bounds of quality in any way that an album could be measured on.

Although the base of their sound is built around death metal, this album is rather melodic with a lot of beautiful passages interspersed between the heavier moments. The rhythm section is tight as hell--neither the bass or the drums are overbearing for the sake of being heavy. Each instrument does what it needs to do to let the melodic moments shine while doubling down for the more aggressive sections. The production is smooth, letting each instrument be heard but it isn't so slick to take away the gloomy atmosphere.

The album opens with the intro instrumental track, "A Garment For The Other World." As far as intros goes, this one is actually interesting. The slow buildup that adds layer as the seconds pass buy indeed builds up anticipation for the for full lenth track. The birds/crows in the background is a nice touch--adds to the destitute and forboding feel of the album.

Before the silence of the intro can truly leave you, the first full length song, "Breathing The Cathedral," begins. The opening riff is massive, immediately beginning the song as a behemoth of a track. The drums and bass add in a healthy dose of intensity but the song opens ups to melodic waters. Musically, there is a Gothic feel to the melodic parts and it works well with the death metal foundation. The violin is a nice too--a touch of regal elegance. During the deep clean vocals, the music is sparse and clean to allow the song to breathe and let in the elements that follow, which is vicious death growls and a faster tempo.

"Autumn Vespers," has that classic melodic death doom sound. The build up is paced at just the right tempo to ensure the song doesn't feel rushed but also to help it get where it needs to do to keep interest high. The guitars reach for wonderuflly melodic heights, hanging high in the air while the death metal roars beneath. Halfway through the song, the bass and drums take centerstage for a brief moment before songs ramps up the intensity. This particular song displays the band's ability to change moods and tempos without ever compromising the overall sound.

"In Your Raven Skies," might be my favorite track on the album. The pounding pulse of the drums that pushes the guitars and bass into a beautiful melodic movement near the song's beginning is something I have played over and over again. 

But much like then rest of the songs, the songwriting makes the transition from these serene movements to rougher waters is exceedingly well done. This song navigates these waters with such smoothness that it goes by much quicker than the length would suggest.  This is the mark of a great song.

"The End Is A Black Ivy," is drench in sorrowful melonchlic notes that just hit the sweet spot for what I look for in this type of doom. The highlights are many but the engaging drumming stands out as does the song's mid section---pure venom and guile but still doom. The final moments of the song hit hard too but still have catchy lines of melody.

"In My Absence," builds around deep drums and a bass line that could flatten a forest. I find this to be a very musical song with the instruments and vocals coming together as one.  The final couple minutes have a clean passage and a heavier but no less moving passage finish the album strongly.  

"The Buried Inheritance," may be an album from a smaller band but it is as big as any album I've heard so far this year.