Earthen Grave - Dismal Times (Self Release)
By Mike Ballue
October 30, 2009

Ex-Trouble bass slinger Ron Holzner moved on from what was looking like, and has proved to be, a very uncertain ship. So what has he found on the seas of doom? A very unique and promising vessel called Earthen Grave. Earthen Grave bring the doom with a nod to the DC scene, a healthy dose of straight up metal and thrash, and wait for it… violin. No worries though, there is not the slightest trace of wanna be goth, weepy shit here. Rachel Barton Pine, an accomplished and respected classical violinist, makes her strings burn, soar and rip, lending the material here a very unique edge.

First track “Dismal Times” shows an incredible diversity over its six and one half minutes. Opening moody and ominous, with both the guitars and the violin giving auditory warning of impending doom, it then slams into a leadweight lumbering riff with shouted vocals before giving way to a nearly spoken section, expertly punctuated by the violin. Around the four minute mark there is a vicious upswing in the tempo before surging into a pummeling thrash like reprisal of the main riff. It’s a very strong song that rewards increasingly on repeated listen and increased focus. There may be spots where you would be reminded of other bands, but taken in totality this does not sound like anyone. Kudos to a relatively new band for creating this solid an identity already.

Next up is “Life Carries On” shows that identity strongly, while highlighting other facets and angles. The way that all six musicians manage to weave a common auditory fabric that is dense and pummeling without losing individual clarity demonstrates that this is indeed a team effort. Rachel Barton Pine and guitarist’s Tony Spillman and Jason Muxlow’s trading of solos towards the end of the song is amazing and well supported by the thunder of Holzner’s bass and Scott Davidson’s drums. “Burning a Sinner” by Witchfinder General is the first of two covers on this disc. The energy and enthusiasm brought to this cover would indicate a passion for the original, while the arrangement of the violin in the riff and the vocal inflections by Mark Weiner bring more than enough new to the table to make it much more than just aping the past.

“Death on the High Seas” is this disc’s sprawling ten minute plus epic. An initially searingly sorrowful violin intro over nautical background sounds gives way to a thick and harsh ripping of the old fiddle soon joined by the twin guitars in a semi-swaggering, rousing riff that sounds like old Trouble colliding with The Obsessed. A powerful performance from Mark Weiner on the mic drives the song right into a heads down thrash section, that should have crowds going nuts live. You can just see the heads banging in your mind…and over the thrash the violin skitters, stabs and saws…trust me you are unlikely to have ever heard anything quite like it. Good, good stuff…

The second cover, Pentagram’s “Relentless” rounds the disc off. Given the same combination of reverence and newness as the previous cover, this is a very enjoyable four minutes of mayhem. A bit unusual to have two covers on an ep length debut, but you’ll find no complaints from me. It works, and it works damn well. This is a very promising debut and if the doom gods are with us, this band will stay around and continue to produce the kind of unique, powerful and thoughtful music contained on Dismal Times.


Visit the Earthen Grave website at www.myspace.com/earthengrave