Graveyard Peace

Graveyard had a solid run of albums with their self titled debut (2007), Hisingen Blues (2011), and Lights Out (2012), but I could never fully get on board with Innocence & Decadence (2015). The album wasn't terrible, but there were a couple of songs that just had too much R&B influence for my tastes, and it kind of ruined the album for me. When the band announced in 2016 that they were splitting up, I was glad. If Innocence & Decadence was the new direction, I'd rather they just split.

The band managed to stay broken up for almost a full three months before they announced their reunion. Shit. Now I was going to have to pay attention to them again...most likely getting my hopes up with a new album, only to deal with the disappointment of the new music not coming close to their classic albums.

Fast forward about six months, and Graveyard posted a video for their new single, Please Don't, and I was suddenly very interested in the new album. I don't know what it was, but I had a very good feeling about what they would deliver. All that hesitation and low expectations were washed away with that one song, and Peace was suddenly one of my most anticipated albums for the year.

I fucking love this record. It is pretty rare for me to listen to the same record more than once in a day, but with Peace, I can't help but queue it up for repeat spins.

I am loving that splatter vinyl look for this pressing. Limited to 350 for the US pressing.

Decadence In The Graveyard

Each Graveyard album takes a while to grow on me, but after sitting with them for some time, they tend to blow my mind. That was certainly the case with Hisingen Blues, and after my intial tepid response with Lights Out in 2012, that album ended being a favorite of mine for a while.

After three albums under their belt, I thought that I had Graveyard figured out. I knew their sound inside and out, and they weren't going to catch me off guard with Innocence and Decadence. I was prepared to be sucked in from the first spin.

First off, let me say that this dude has a killer voice....and there are times it borders on a Jim Morrison level of sexy. If you could make his voice a physical thing, and slap a set of tits on it...I'd sleep with it. That voice sounds so good on songs like The Apple & The Tree, that it gets me a little wet. The Graveyard US tour has a stop in Portland this January...look for me...I'll be the one down front, throwing my panties at the singer.

Overall, I still think that this new album falls short of their last couple of records. A couple of the songs just fall flat for me. Too much R&B soul influence in Too Much Is Not Enough, and Stay For A Song is too close to a ballad, and I just don't dig them and they drag the album down a couple of notches. Who knows, maybe they will grow on me in time.

500 pressed on the green/orange split colored vinyl.

Graveyard Bi-Colored Blues

I'm incredibly slow when it comes to Graveyard. With each album, I initially meet it with a lukewarm reception, and find that months later I can't get enough of it. When I posted about Graveyard's new album, Lights Out, last month, I was finally starting to appreciate it...and now, I feel as though it should have easily been in my Top 10 list for the year.

I struggled to get into Graveyard's sophomore album, Hisingen Blues. In fact, there were probably times when I was close to just deleting the album from my ipod. However, last January I decided to give the album one last chance while on my drive to Boston to see Ghost and Blood Ceremony. Suddenly, it all came together, and I was blown away how great this album was. I got home and the next day started checking around for a vinyl copy to buy...but the album seemed to be sold out everywhere I looked. At some point over the year, the album was repressed on vinyl...but I was confident that it would be available whenever I wanted it, so I put off buying it. When I finally settled on picking up a copy, once again, I found that the normal distributors I used were sold out. Desperate, I committed to buying the next copy that I found, and when it was repressed again, I no longer hesitated.

I'm glad to finally have a copy.

500 pressed on bi-colored vinyl.

Lights Out In The Graveyard

Nuclear Blast has been releasing the best records this year. Orchid, Overkill, Witchcraft, Testament, Accept...they will all top my list of favorite Metal releases this year, and each one of them falls under the Nuclear Blast label. Add another heavy hitter to the list with the new Graveyard LP.

In the past, it has taken me a while to warm up to each Graveyard release. Their new LP, Lights Out, is no exception. It took me about a year to fully appreciate last year's Hisignen Blues, but once it hit me, I fell in love with it. I was excited to check out the new record, but I was feeling pretty underwhelmed upon the first couple of listens. I don't know...it seemed too mellow overall.

As expected, repeated listens have me enjoying this album more and more. As a whole, it doesn't knock me on my ass yet, but there are still some killer tunes on this. The band continues to evolve and impress.

Like most of the recent Nuclear Blast releases, they come with a handnumbered sticker on the shrinkwrap. "Golden" vinyl is limited to 250.

Nuclear Blast has gotten into the habit of releasing a 7 inch single with some of their albums this year. They did it with Witchcraft, and do the same with Graveyard. The b-side to the Goliath single features a great song. Don't miss out on it just because it is limited to the b-side. Get on it.

Children Of The Grave

Back when I was listening to a lot of Doom Metal and 70's Hard Rock like Blue Oyster Cult, I was hearing a bunch of hype for a band called Graveyard. I downloaded their two albums, but they didn't really jump out and grab me so I didn't really stick with them. Six months went by and I found myself down in Boston for the Ghost/Blood Ceremony show...I figured that I'll give Graveyard's Hisingen Blues album one last chance, so I queue it up in my ipod. Some albums you just need to be in the mood for, and that night I was blown away listening to it. I finally understood the hype, and I promised myself that the next day I'd track down the colored vinyl for this LP. The problem was, I was too late. Everywhere that I had seen the colored vinyl six months ago, were now all sold out.

Graveyard's self titled first album isn't as strong as Hisingen Blues, but it is still pretty solid. Since I couldn't find the album that I was looking for, I settle for the band's first one. I had to pick it up before that one sells out as well.

300 were pressed on orange vinyl by Nuclear Blast for the second pressing.