Navigating You Through the Progressive Underground

Style: Symphonic Death Metal (harsh vocals)
Review by: Matt
Country: Italy
Release date: 16 July, 2021

Has narration ever improved a metal album? I began to ponder this question during Gravestone‘s Ars Arcana. I was able to put a lot of thought into it, because the mind wanders when an album opens with three spoken word intros in a row. I guess I like to laugh at Rhapsody‘s old interludes (this is hell!!!), and Bal-Sagoth owned it, but it was campy narration enhancing campy music with all due respect. Gravestone are dead serious on every track, and the narration is prevalent enough to frustrate me during what is otherwise a good album.

Once this thing gets cooking, it’s a pretty solid melodic/symphonic death offering, though heavier on artificial synth sounds than e.g. Fleshgod Apocalypse. It’s rather eclectic, with furious blasting and slow chugging, sometimes taking a stab at legitimate death metal, sometimes hanging back with a sad minimalist piano part. Often, the heavy parts are accompanied by proggy synth leads more traditionally used by bands like Pagan’s Mind. When the brutal and melodic sides unite, it reminds me of newer Scar Symmetry, or maybe even Kalisia‘s one crazy album. The songs take a lot of strange turns, with chord changes and melodies never quite leading where you expect, but ending up somewhere tasteful nonetheless. The drumming is flashy and excessive in a good way, and the harsh vocalist has a great crunchy tone – see the chorus of “Ignis.” I don’t know where this renewed vigor came from after being dormant for a quarter of a century, but I have no complaints at all with the band’s performance. Writing-wise, the album even holds together decently despite all these long-winded speeches.

Apparently, Ars Arcana is based on a book, so it makes sense that they would try to convey the story; it’s just that metal concept albums lend themselves more to plot outlines than plots, where your imagination can fill in the gaps. Trying to recount a literal series of events in detail is much harder to do gracefully. If you find yourself stopping for spoken word regularly, maybe this isn’t the appopriate medium for what you’re trying to get across… Nevertheless, it doesn’t outright ruin the album, and these guys definitely have the goods musically. This is a band to watch.


Recommended tracks: Ignis, Aqua
Recommended for fans of: Kalisia, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Scar Symmetry
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Metal-Archives page


Label: Sliptrick Records – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook

Gravestone is:
– Simona Guerrini (vocals)
– Marco Borrani (guitars)
– Gabriele Maschietti (guitars)
– Massimiliano Buffolino (keyboards)
– Massimiliano Maax Salvatori (bass)
– David Folchitto (drums)



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