Shallow Water Grave - Suspension Of Disbelief
Innerstrength Records - ISR007 - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
Another day, another metalcore review... but hold on, what's this? These guys are actually... really good? Surely some mistake? But nope, it seems that Shallow Water Grave really do have something to offer in this time of severe genre oversaturation. Formed as a side project of a side project (Shallow Water Grave formed from Zombie Apocalypse, who formed from the quite brilliant Shai Hulud, whose singer contributes vocals for the two demo tracks rounding out this EP), Shallow Water Grave combine european melodic metal chops, thrash ferocity and technical skills and metalcore aggression and brevity with teeth-rattlingly impressive effect.
Forget your average 'detune-to-dropped-C-and-hammer-minor-thirds' metalcore, Shallow Water Grave know how to harness the power of the riff - whether going all Bay Area in a triplet-wristed stylee, incorporating upper-register pull-offs, or alternating between chunky chugga-riffage and more melodic runs, there's always something going on in these track to retain the interest. All of the five tracks are varied enough to remain distinct from each other while retaining the listener's interest, and the two demo tracks tacked on to the present an interesting alternative - hearing two of the main five tracks performed by Shai Hulud's vocalist rather than drummer Eric Dellon.
I normally have a bit of trouble recommending EPs, since typically speaking, I don't bother with them myself unless I'm a huge, huge fan of the band concerned. And considering this release clocks in at just over 25 minutes (and that's with two demo versions of tracks already in the main body of the EP), personally, I'd recommend waiting for the (hopefully forthcoming) full-length. However, if you're in a rush to hear some truly worthy metalcore, you could do a hell of a lot worse than to splash out on this.
7/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Shallow Water Grave's Official Website
Innerstrength Records' Official Website
Innerstrength Records - ISR007 - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
Another day, another metalcore review... but hold on, what's this? These guys are actually... really good? Surely some mistake? But nope, it seems that Shallow Water Grave really do have something to offer in this time of severe genre oversaturation. Formed as a side project of a side project (Shallow Water Grave formed from Zombie Apocalypse, who formed from the quite brilliant Shai Hulud, whose singer contributes vocals for the two demo tracks rounding out this EP), Shallow Water Grave combine european melodic metal chops, thrash ferocity and technical skills and metalcore aggression and brevity with teeth-rattlingly impressive effect.
Forget your average 'detune-to-dropped-C-and-hammer-minor-thirds' metalcore, Shallow Water Grave know how to harness the power of the riff - whether going all Bay Area in a triplet-wristed stylee, incorporating upper-register pull-offs, or alternating between chunky chugga-riffage and more melodic runs, there's always something going on in these track to retain the interest. All of the five tracks are varied enough to remain distinct from each other while retaining the listener's interest, and the two demo tracks tacked on to the present an interesting alternative - hearing two of the main five tracks performed by Shai Hulud's vocalist rather than drummer Eric Dellon.
I normally have a bit of trouble recommending EPs, since typically speaking, I don't bother with them myself unless I'm a huge, huge fan of the band concerned. And considering this release clocks in at just over 25 minutes (and that's with two demo versions of tracks already in the main body of the EP), personally, I'd recommend waiting for the (hopefully forthcoming) full-length. However, if you're in a rush to hear some truly worthy metalcore, you could do a hell of a lot worse than to splash out on this.
7/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Shallow Water Grave's Official Website
Innerstrength Records' Official Website
