Portland doom kings, GRAVES AT SEA, today drop a molten taste of “This Place Is Poison,” via Cvlt Nation.
The sordid hell hymn serves as side A of the EP of same name. Their first release since 2005’s scalding split with Asunder, This Place Is Poison was tracked by drummer Bryan Sours (ex-Subarachnoid Space) and Steve Lobdell at Audible Alchemy and mastered by Ryan Foster at Foster Mastering on their home turf.
“This Place Is Poison” finds the devastating, tar-thick sludge for which the band is so notorious decaying sound waves with a deluge of soul-scathing guitars anchored by swampy bass rumbles and planet-fracturing drums all submersed in the deadly howls and shrieks of the damned. Comments This Is Not A Scene, “The title track is a glorious song packed with slow driving crust and sludge fueled guitars backed by a beat like a slow trudge through the darkest of places on earth… Nathan [Misterek] delivers vocals sometimes as low end growls, sometimes frantic guttural screams, but always with the bleakest of emotions. This is wave after wave of low-end despair…” Adds Cvlt Nation, “When the title track starts creeping out of your speakers, you will realize that one of the sickest bands to exist in the underground is back and cannot be fucked with.”
On Side B, Black Sabbath’s “Orchid” and “Lord Of This World” get GRAVES AT SEAed: “Orchid” is eroded beyond its essence into a morose march towards death while “Lord of This World” gets a grim reconfiguration with grisly riffs, bilious hisses and a blackened atmosphere that takes the original to a dark, desolate realm of desperation and despair.
Get rotten with the sounds of “This Place Is Poison,” courtesy of Cvlt Nation RIGHT HERE.
You can also stream “Orchid” and “Lord Of This World” also streaming at Cvlt Nation as part of their ongoing compilation series at THIS LOCATION.
GRAVES AT SEA are currently leveling stages across Europe alongside fellow riff-worshippers Sourvein. The band will soil twenty-four municipalities in total with the march coming to a close at Heavy Days In Doomtown in Denmark on May 3rd.
GRAVES AT SEA Spring European Invasion
w/ Sourvein [remaining dates]
4/25/2014 Heretic Club – Bordeaux, France
4/26/2014 Le Klub – Paris, France
4/27/2014 DesertFest @ The Underworld – London, England
4/28/2014 The Lughole – Sheffield, England
4/29/2014 The Roadhouse – Manchester, England
4/30/2014 Music City – Antwerp, Belgium
5/01/2014 Magasin 4 – Bruxelles, Belgium
5/02/2014 Hafenklang – Hamborg, Germany
5/03/2014 Heavy Days In Doomtown – Copenhagen, Denmark
This Place Is Poison is out now via Eolian Empire on 12″ vinyl. The EP is limited to 1000 copies and comes available on 140-gram black wax in black inner sleeve with a standard metallic gold on black jacket and one-sided metallic gold on black insert with an included download code.
Order your copy TODAY at THIS LOCATION.
“In the title track, GRAVES AT SEA borrow from the classic Eagles tale ‘Hotel California,’ using the lyrics ‘you can check out anytime, but you can never leave.’ You will not want to check out of their crusty, tormented hotel. I am a huge fan of 1970s era Black Sabbath, so I was very eager to listen to the covers of ‘Orchid’ and ‘Lord Of This World.’ They do not disappoint. ‘Orchid’ is barely recognizable as the acoustic ballad it is, and GRAVES AT SEA turn the original five-minute plus version of ‘Lord Of This World’ into a thirteen-minute & thirteen-second blackened monster of epic proportions. 4/5″ – About.com
“The crushing riffs of [guitarist] Nick [Phit] right from the start of This Place Is Poison, along with that gloomy outlook that GRAVES AT SEA has, quickly reminds one of the dark arts of bands such as Electric Wizard… At the same time, the band includes some rather groovy moments… giving This Place Is Poison a stoner/doom feel, not unlike acts such as Dopethrone and Acid King, with that slight psychedelia that is invoked on the album.” – Heavy Metal Tribune
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