It's been a hell of a year for death metal. Asphyx lived up to the title of their latest, Deathhammer. Cannibal Corpse honed their skills to a razor's edge on Torture. And with Endless Procession of Souls, Grave embrace the killing groove and decimate everything that has come before.

The production on Endless Procession is interesting for Swedish death--you've got what sounds like a standard HM-2 on the guitars, but it's not the same bass-heavy fuzzbomb you hear on modern Dismember or Black Breath records. It's like a layer has been peeled back, leaving enough dirt to feel dirty but allowing the instruments to shine through in their own damaged way. All older death metal records sound imperfect, but they have character: gnarly and heavy in their own right, but never pristine. Grave tap that nostalgic roar without even trying; paired with these songs and a pitch-perfect command of the style, it works wonders.



Endless Procession of Souls comes out Tuesday, August 28th on Century Media, and you should buy it. The vinyl edition even comes with a 2nd record full of classic covers that I desperately want to hear. In the meantime, we've got an exclusive stream of the entire album below. You owe it to your ears to listen to this thing all weekend, on repeat, ad nauseum.

— Aaron Lariviere

Grave - "Intro - Dystopia"

Grave - "Amongst Marble and the Dead"

Grave - "Disembodied Steps"

Grave - "Flesh Epistle"

Grave - "Passion of the Weak"

Grave - "Winds of Chains"

Grave - "Encountering the Divine"

Grave - "Perimortem"

Grave - "Plague of Nations"

Grave - "Epos"

PRE-ORDER ENDLESS PROCESSION OF SOULS

Century Media (CD)