GRAVEYARD - Peace
July 21, 2018, 6 years ago
(Nuclear Blast)
Swedish rockers Graveyard are certainly comfortable in their retro-rockin’ skin here on their fifth full-length, the band going deep into the trips of ’70s rock (“See The Day” is full-on stoner blues) and absolutely 100-percent convincing classic rock (“The Fox”), new drummer Oskar Bergenheim absolutely killing it behind the kit on the groovin’ “Walk On”, which is like a mellower Pepper-era Corrosion Of Conformity cut filtered through the greatest ’70s rock classics. “Bird Of Paradise” is total Hendrix worship, and cool closer “Low (I Wouldn’t Mind)” takes all of its 6:36 to sprawl out for a brisk, moody finale.
All things told, Peace finds the band settling into their sound with a confidence and comfort that needs to be heard to be believed; it’s a kick-ass rock album full of great riffs and overflowing with great attitude. There’s no wink-wink nudge-nudge “weren’t the ’70s fun?” silliness here: this band loves this music, there’s no doubt about that. Graveyard has always been a cut above other bands doing this, and Peace is another reason why, the band sounding positively locked in and locked on, living in a different era and transmitting the sounds from it with sincerity and passion, and perhaps even better than ever before.
