Graveland - Will Stronger Than Death
No Colours Records - NC118 - March 25th, 2007
By Wayward_Son
Once more we charge the battle ruins with
Graveland, Faithful Reader. And once more we come out victorious, though not without our wounds and flaws.
It seems
Graveland is constantly being accused of treading water, seeing how the band has stayed with a certain sound since 2000’s hammering
Creed of Iron. A closer inspection will reveal slight progressions and regressions in sound throughout the past seven years and eight releases. These changes will be inaudible to the untrained listener. This writer hears noticeable differences between the victorious romp of
Creed of Iron to
Memory and Destiny’s calm yet mighty feeling, the driving force of
The Fire of Awakening, and
Dawn of Iron Blades’ underlying melody mystique. The biggest surprise came with 2005’s pummeling
Fire Chariot of Destruction, which happened to be Darken’s best for some time. That release brought back the savagery from the
Thousand Swords days combined with the majesty of the current era to create of something truly special and relevant. Even even the most ardent naysayer should have noticed this change.
With
Will Stronger Than Death, Darken has again changed
Graveland’s approach. Instead of the outright blaze of rage from
Fire Chariot of Destruction, the band’s latest has a more subtle ferociousness. More akin to
Memory and Destiny,
Will Stronger Than Death has a manner of guarding its secrets well. A perfect example of this comes in the song
’Victoria Divina’, where Darken has placed one of his beautiful trademark melody lines under a mountain of riffs. This, in turn, adds charm and class to what otherwise might have been just another song.
’Fire Dragon of Black Sun’ is another notable hymn, opening the near hour-long album in flawless fashion. It is, however, the conveniently titled beast,
’Apocalypto’, that takes
Will Stronger Than Death that much further. Powerful, charging riffs combined with Darken’s keen ear for beneath-the-surface melody makes
’Apocalypto’ one of the better
Graveland tracks in the post
Immortal Pride era.
It would have been too easy for Darken to make another
Fire Chariot of Destruction. (Un)fortunately, he decided to play it safe and simply do what he does best, with minor tweaks here and there. The problem with
Will Stronger Than Death is the lack of consistency between the songs. This writer recognizes that it is near impossible to make any listener happy with every song on any album. There will always be that one song that just is not right.
’Throne of the Granite’ and
’Fire and Snow’ fit the bill perfectly. They simply sound like Darken doing his thing to make the album longer than it needs to be.
While not being the best
Graveland album to grace this writer’s ears, it is nonetheless another solid bullet in the belt for one of black metal’s most important flagship bands. For the newcomer,
Will Stronger Than Death is a decent enough starting point, though some albums would give a stronger representation. For those converted Faithful Readers, our beloved
Graveland has once again delivered, and done so honorably and victoriously.
Official Graveland Website
Official No Colours Website
