By Lee Newman
The last two times I’ve seen Graves at Sea live, they’ve played a song that contains The Perfect Riff. This song did not appear to be on any of their previous releases, despite searching high and low for it; “this is a new song” was the only information ever provided about it. But back to this riff –it’s absolutely vicious. It swaggers all over the place. I could probably listen to it for hours, which is why I was so heartbroken when I couldn’t find a recording of it anywhere.
As it turns out, The Perfect Riff has now found its rightful place in Graves at Sea’s discography. It’s the opening riff for “Betting on Black”, the first track of their split with Sourvein. It stomps its way out of a miasma of feedback like Godzilla out of the ocean. It’s awesome. “Betting on Black” is a hearty memento mori – “you’re born into a world of shit and then you die” – with hard-grooving riffs that stalk dangerously around the pentatonic scale.
Graves at Sea’s second contribution to this split, “Confession”, is a straight-ahead jammer that showcases the band’s notoriously gremlin-like vocals. Though it packs less ferocity than “Betting on Black”, it further proves that Graves at Sea are a riffs band, first and foremost, and few do it better.
After Graves’ side closes, it’s time for Sourvein to bring the doom. “Drifter” kicks of with militant drums and vocals conjuring up the languid gloominess of Black Sabbath. Graves’ side is the one you rock out to; Sourvein’s side is the one where you break out the drugs and kick back. Big climaxes and resolutions aren’t Sourvein’s thing. Instead, their tracks forge ahead slowly but surely, settling into chilled-out repetitions.
“Equinox” sees the band mellowing out further and getting all solemn on us, but includes some seriously spacey soloing that acts as a centerpiece for a song that could otherwise be described as overly simple. Guitars oscillate unevenly across a spare background, calling to mind some of the rougher, stranger musical experimentation of the 1960s. However, the band bucks up and comes out swinging for the finale of their three tracks, mustering up some punchy, higher-energy riffs and fuzzed-out bass.
Though Graves at Sea and Sourvein are not equally matched in terms of intensity, this split is a solid representation of all the ways psychotropic doom can be done. Grab it at seventh-rule.myshopify.com, and turn on, tune in and riff the hell out.
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