Band:	Graveworm
Album:	Killing Innocence
Style:	Melodic black metal, Gothic metal
Release date:	April 2023

01. A Nameless Grave
02. Dead Words
03. End Of Time
04. Escorting The Soul
05. If The World Shut Down
06. In Honour Of The Fallen
07. We Are The Resistance
08. Where Agony Prevails
09. Wicked Mind
10. Wrath Of Gods

Graveworm have finally resurfaced after eight years in the dark, going straight back into doing what they've done best by providing us with great symphonic black metal with a touch of gothic. Here, they unleash their tenth release Killing Innocence, and as expected, it's good.

Formed back in 1992 were the Italian metal band Graveworm, a melodiously dark symphonic-based band that combines an equal portion of black and gothic metal. They're a band with quite an impressive back catalog, stretching back to their impressive debut When Daylight's Gone in 1997, although perhaps the band is most notably remembered for their 1999 classic As The Angels Reach The Beauty. Now the band returns to the scene after an eight-year absence following the release of Ascending Hate back in 2015.

This is an album that clearly shows Graveworm's intentions are to carry on exactly from where they left off. It's clearly driven by symphonic elements, which truly dominate the whole structure. The synth work is mainly present throughout, adding a great variety of melody and epicness, running parallel with some fine instrumentation. However, should a band traditionally known for being a symphonic-based metal act such as Graveworm returning with an album that has strong symphonic elements come as any real surprise?

The riff work here is mostly made up of blackened tremolo picking and furious blast beating, but the style and rhythm do vary from track to track, with elements of gothic, meloblack and even melodeath featured somewhat throughout. The vox has always been one of the most interesting factors for Graveworm, as previous albums tended to consist of death growls and blackened shrieks alternating between each other. Killing Innocence is no exception; however, the growls do tend to slightly dominate the shrieks throughout the album.

Just narrowing this album down to symphonic black or even gothic isn't all that simple. There are many instances where the band steers off the blackened path, and on certain tracks show little or no inclination for gothic at all. There are several noticeable highlights of this along the way, such as “Wicked Mind”, which opens with a slamming death-like riff style, accompanied by a buzzsaw-sounding guitar tone. Growls are also present more so than the shrieks, which occasionally come into the mix. There is clearly a more deathly approach on this short track than black in my eyes.

However, the previous track, “Where Agony Prevails”, is entirely different, with its strong meloblack tendencies, from rabidly melodic tremolo picking and ferocious blast beating, to the blackened shrieks that completely outweigh the death growls. You then have the slightly more gothic-orientated “In Honor Of The Fallen”, which also finishes off with a sweet acoustic passage melody.

Overall, Killing Innocence is a solid comeback for Graveworm. Although this is far from the quality and memorability of As The Angels Reach The Beauty and Scourge Of Malice, there are still plenty of moments to enjoy. The sound quality is nothing short of excellent, and once again they hit the nail on the head in terms of mastering that epically melodious symphonic soundscape.