Band:	Grave
Album:	Dominion VIII
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	April 21, 2008
A review by:	Lucas

01. A World In Darkness
02. Fallen (Angel Son)
03. Deathstorm
04. Stained By Hate
05. Bloodpath
06. Annihilated Gods
07. Sinners Lust
08. Dark Signs
09. 8th Dominion

I think it's about time someone combines our two favourite things: metal and Happy Families! 'Than I'd like from you, from the "Long-Running And Incredbly Solid Swedish Death Metal" category the band Grave.' 'Here you go.' 'Thank you very much, that completes the family!'

And joy is all around. Another thing that's all around, is Death fucking metal. If you're listening to Grave at the moment, of course. 'Cause Grave is exactly that: Death fucking metal. Let's throw in a nice cliché-metaphor at this point - because you know, clichés are used so often for a reason - Grave is like a warmachine without a steer, going full throttle. You know what that means - desaster and destruction.

So if you're dealing with a surplus of energy or just feel like you should train those neck muscles, don't hesitate to spend some money on Grave's "Dominion VIII". You'll get a stomping mid-tempo, groovy and pummeling record in return. But one with great, nastylicious solos and a good amount of melody too. Melody that isn't blatantly obvious (curse you Gothenburg bands) but nonetheless present and an enriching factor. The vocal delivery by Ola Lindgren is brutal and to the point, exactly like we're used to. Trademark Swedish Death metal stuff, in short. As if you didn't know that already.

With releases from bands such as Grave the question is not 'what are we going to hear?', but 'how good is this stuff?' Of course you already know what this sounds like, but how well are they performing this time (a valid question when you take albums such as "Hating Life" into consideration... although it wasn't as horrible as some people said, just a little different, but I'm really drifting off here). Well, I can tell you now that there's no need to worry about the quality. "Dominion VIII" may not be a new "Soulless" or "You'll Never See", but it's certainly a damn bitchy and pissed off piece of music. Hail to rotten and doomed Death fucking metal! Don't like that? Go fish!