The madness on Graveyard's The 6th Extinction album ranges somewhere between Captain Beefheart and Deathspell Omega (review)
Band: Graveyard
Country: US
Album: The 6th Extinction
Release Date: March 13th 2020
Record label: Prof Sny Records
Order: https://graveyardthe6thextinction.bandcamp.com/releases
Graveyard Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PHILOSOPHIESOFTHEREALITY/
The 6th Extinction movie - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=142694653762062
Contact: GRAVEYARD PO Box 960 Shoreham, NY 11786 USA
Oh yeah! I just got a new Graveyard’s album titled The 6th Extinction in my mailbox! For those of you who are still living under a rock or a pile of zombie infested corpses, Graveyard is a hellbent “political death noise“ squad coming from New York. They formed in 1991. The band released 3 demos: Slabfest (1992), Vacation Dinner at the Morgue (1993) and Philosophies of Reality and Displaced Souls (1998). Graveyard also did 2 split releases – one with Kuafor Cengiz in 2018, and Death Spiral with Faith of Gestalgt in 2019. Their debut album Opus V was released in 2018 via Prof Sny Record. We included it on our list of top 40 metal albums of 2018 at #16! We also ranked Death Spiral at #9 on our list of top 25 metal EPs of 2019!
You should have in mind that Graveyard is not your ordinary overproduced metal band. They keep their music raw and dirty, as their name suggests! Their music is a combination of the finest ingredients of grindcore/ death metal/ black metal, or in their own words “political death noise“. Their stuff always reminded me of old Sarcofago, Sepultura, Bathory with some over-the-top, politically charged lyrics. The kind of lyrics reminiscent of the whole 80's era when thrash and grindcore bands came with a strong message behind their music. What I found striking about this band is the fact that their albums always have a chaotic feel of uncertainty. You never know what direction their madness may descend. They always bring the “jam” feel to their songs, for which their guitarist Custodian Killer is to blame!
The whole album The 6th Extinction is about the step-by-step destruction of this planet caused by greedy corporations and climate change. You can check out the whole concept in our exclusive interview wth the RAz! And yeah, this nasty album comes with the movie! According to movie timeline, The 6th Extinction run time is 51:47 minutes! The movie starts with a VHS feel. And what’s cool about it is that as the time goes by, the text informs you what song is playing along with the visuals. The first song, "Were you Attempting Suicide?" starts with this rock-sounding chord, followed by some creepy-as-hell & yet still psychedelic visuals. And the samples kick in: You are about to enter hell!... What was in your mind? Were you attempting suicide? The next song, "Earth’s Acumen" is where metal kicks in! And believe me, RAz really knows how to scream! Brutalization continues as the frenzied leads kick in! Of course, the music is followed by psychedelic visuals and scenes from old movies. And the lyrics are about how human race will perish into dust. The lyrics touch on the topic of anthropocene or plainly put, the destruction of the planet by greedy humans and corporations. The next track "It is all Obscene" is a faster one, with witch-like black metal vocals. And oh boy, the music is raw as the red meat in your local store! The next track, "Money is a Virus" is where politics kick in! The menacing riff (one of the best ones on the album) is accompanied with the news footage from climate conference. The word DIRTY appears on the screen. And then the poetic lyrics kick in. I really enjoy the way this blends with the music. The RAz’s speech is powerful to say the least! That’s totally one of the highlights of the album! And kudos for that Hellraiser footage! And after the mantric riff that already drilled a hole in your brain, comes another one with a kick-ass rock feel to it. And then everything goes “back to normal“ with the drilling-your-brains-out riff. And man! That blood scene will surely freak you out! It’s screams 80's! Love it! The next song, "USA is Dead" is a rather pessimistic one (lol). It also incorporates climate change footage. Other than that, you also get footage from the Graveyard’s studio. And yes, the riff totally sounds like putting a nail in the coffin. Other than EPA’s climate denial mumbling, there is a really cool samurai fight scene (I have no idea what movie that is). The leads are bullseye! Custodian Killer really knows how to use that wah-wah! RAz’s vocals are ghoulish to say the least! He spews his hellish poetry, the kind of which turns your pesky little souls in a pile of nothing!
The next song, "Denial" wins the prize when it comes to the riffs. It’s just catchy and perfect! The song title itself is a reference to climate change denial. Once again, RAz brings his quintessential poetry on the table. The guitars in this track are SAVAGE! The next song, "Panic and Terror" is pretty relevant to what’s going on right now around the world, especially in the US.
People start to panic when the food on the shelf
is only diet soda and the jolly green elf
Plastic bottle drinking water, broken food chain
Insurance corporations suck your life down the drain
Weaponized police force guard the global elite
while livid crowds riot and take to the streets
'Hey, let’s smash and grab for valueless things,
like these labels on our clothes, just imaginings.'
Yet we never would imagine it would end this way
when we never would listen that this day would come
you’ve got to understand you were never in the plan for when it comes
This song is unlike any other on this album, especially because of Johnny Rotten-sounding vocals. The punk vibes are strong in this one! And the horror movie scenes are quite enjoyable to say the least! Sampled drums give this song a Ministry vibe! And let’s face it, this song has some WILD solos, I’ll tell you that! The lyrics are more relevant than ever, since we’re living in the age of toilet paper fist fights.
"Martial Law is Now Nationwide" is another prophetic one! Jeez! This is getting scary! Even though it was completed in December of 2019, this album manages to predict a lot of things, martial law nationwide is just one of them, and we are only at the 8th song on the album! This one starts with a dissonant riff in vein of Voivod! Clearly one of the best riffs you’ll hear along with "Denial"! That aside, I’m pretty sure that I heard "STAY IN YOUR HOMES! STAY IN YOUR HOMES" sample in "Martial law is now nationwide". And the black metal chords that follow just made my day! Not to mention the Godzilla vs. Hedorah scene in the movie! So epic! It just makes you wanna do a Godzilla marathon! The next song is a title track – "Sixth Extinction" and it features scenes from Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, where Godzilla is fighting a giant crab (CRAB SOCIETY NORTH APPROVES THIS!) This song is also a commentary on global warming: "END OF LIFE, MASS EXTINCTION, SUFFERING, CATACLYSMS..." the lyrics are even more brutal when watching the monsters fighting. And the line about plastic oceans....that hits hard! All of the sudden, the punching riff shifts to a more noisy chord-orchestrated mess! And RAz delivers one of his finest screams! This song is one of his finest lyrical efforts. So simple, but in a bone-crushing way. Pure grindcore bullseye, I tell you that!
The last cut on side 1 of the album "Climate Shift" is a straight forward one! That’s the first track on the album in which the band changes their tuning from standard E to C. That riff splits meat from the bones! And you can totally dance along! This is yet another rant about sea levels rising. It even features some cool documentary footage about it. The riff is absolutely catchy and brutal! You can see Custodian Killer playing it in the studio!
Part two is the moment where things get waaaay heavier! It starts with probably the coolest song title on this album – "Mole People". The riff is pure headbanging death metal madness! And the lyrics are pretty spot on! They remind me of the Primus’ "American Life". RAz takes no prisoners in this song! His vocals are so gigantic! His anger is channeled perfectly through the lyrics, no doubt about it! "Hell Storms" is another gargantuan one! A machine that levels everything before it! "Fractured Planet" is where things get frantic! That noisy riff is some diagnosis that came to life! The song becomes completely different when the keyboards kick in! There is really something about that effect. "Rapture of Fire" is another eerie track. I would describe it as The Residents with distortion. A witching hour that keeps delivering! Damn, I can totally listen to these dissonant black metal chords all day long! And the last track "The Final Extinction" is a death note to mankind. It all ends with the famous George Orwell quote:
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."
The “political death noise“ squad and their philosophies of reality couldn’t have been more relevant these days. And with The 6th Extinction, they predicted a couple of things. The lyrics of “Panic and Terror“, “Martial Law is Now Nationwide“, “Mole People“ are coming to life as we speak! They predicted the chaos when Coronavirus was getting big, and they also predicted the riots around the US. And I hope that their predictions about global warming won’t happen in our lifetime! This album implements the dirtiest & vilest black metal you can find with the essential grindcore, politically-driven poetry, Jim Morrison style. If I had to describe it in one sentence, The 6th Extinction’s sound ranges somewhere between Captain Beefheart and Deathspell Omega. This release is chaotic, unpolished, raw…with hella “jam” feels to it. Graveyard’s The 6th Extinction drives you out of your comfort zone and casts you into a world full of uncertainty, both musically and lyrically. The old school vibe and the untamed nature of this release will make you love it and hate it! At the same time!
Rating: 10/10
P.S. Green Jolly Elf predicts your DOOM! AND SUFFERING!
Tracklist:
1) WERE YOU ATTEMPTING SUICIDE?
2) EARTH’S ACUMEN
3) IT IS ALL OBSCENE
4) MONEY IS VIRUS
5) USA IS DEAD
6) DENIAL
7) PANIC AND TERROR
8) MARSHALL LAW IS NOW NATIONWIDE
9) 6th EXTINCTION
10) CLIMATE SHIFT
11) MOLE PEOPLE
12) HELL STORMS
13) FRACTURED PLANET
14) RAPTURE OF FIRE
15) FINAL EXTINCTION
Graveyard lineup:
Custodian Killer (lead guitar & bass)
The RAz (guitars & vocals)
T. Jorgensen (drums & programming)
You can check out our interview with Graveyard here!
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