When it comes to heavy music in the UK you've got two types of bands...those who dream of playing Download...and those who dream of playing Bloodstock. Now, while they are both respectable festivals, they do have their differences...for example, at Download you may see BOWLING FOR SOUP play the main stage with giant inflatable sheep...while at Bloodstock, you are more likely to have both BFS and an actual sheep sacrificed on stage at the hands of people covered primarily in spikes and corpse paint...(I jest, health and safety wouldn't allow it) but you get the idea...Bloodstock has always been the home of all things truly metal, without a doubt the heavier of the two festivals, it champions everything we love about alternative underground culture, so much so that it has a stage named after the late Sophie Lancaster, who has become a true symbol of individuality and acceptance since her tragic passing in 2007. Every year the stage is home to a myriad of talented up and coming metal musicians that just want that opportunity to shine and in 2017, ten years on, it's no different. Let me introduce you to GRAVIL...formed in London around 2005, the metal-as-fuck five-piece are ready to unleash their brand new album "No More Forgiveness"...hollow threat? Let's find out...
The album explodes into life with "Detonate"...incredibly fast paced with intense drum fills and frantic, thrash metal inspired riffs, this is no nonsense metal with absolutely zero fucks given. Vocalist Grant Stacey has a hell of a snarl that pitches him somewhere between the likes of Mark Hunter of CHIMAIRA and Alexi Laiho of CHILDREN OF BODOM; absolutely feral. "Are We Alive" follows up losing absolutely no momentum whatsoever but it utilizes a lot more groove, well crafted around the gravel tones of Grant's voice...this is wonderful melodic death metal and the guitar solo courtesy of Tony Dando is sleek, adding extra texture to an already accessible metal track, a great start this.
Over the course of the album the band aren't afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves either in terms of influence, as you can hear pockets of inspiration from metals heavy hitters dotted throughout; "Choke In Silence" for example has more than a slight similarity to LAMB OF GOD in it's design, while "I Am The Blood" offers the steady yet commanding tones of MACHINE HEAD, especially during the chorus and interestingly midway during "Locate The Traitor" we're greeted with some unexpectedly haunting atmospherics, coupled with the tone of Grant's vocals you'd be forgiven for getting hints of CRADLE OF FILTH here, if only briefly. Far from a tribute act however, they come into a life of their own for the song "Fractured, Divided"...a soaring melodic power metal full of great hooks, classic in it's approach musically and featuring METAPRISM vocalist Theresa Smith; this is as catchy as old-school metal can get and it's a wonderful album highlight.
The album's low-points are if anything trivial and really don't detract from the overall quality of the record; "Plagues, Thieves And Murderers", despite carrying a strong message targeting a shapeless music industry is let down by it's spoken-word content, but it will appease fans of djent, while closing track "One Eyed King" suffers from probably the albums weakest vocal recording despite it's surging TRIVIUM-eque guitar work. Luckily though these points are minor and as I stated, the album as a whole really isn't effected or more importantly let down as such as a result...Gravil by name but they hit harder than fucking granite, overlook this lot and you will not be forgiven...[7]
The album explodes into life with "Detonate"...incredibly fast paced with intense drum fills and frantic, thrash metal inspired riffs, this is no nonsense metal with absolutely zero fucks given. Vocalist Grant Stacey has a hell of a snarl that pitches him somewhere between the likes of Mark Hunter of CHIMAIRA and Alexi Laiho of CHILDREN OF BODOM; absolutely feral. "Are We Alive" follows up losing absolutely no momentum whatsoever but it utilizes a lot more groove, well crafted around the gravel tones of Grant's voice...this is wonderful melodic death metal and the guitar solo courtesy of Tony Dando is sleek, adding extra texture to an already accessible metal track, a great start this.
Over the course of the album the band aren't afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves either in terms of influence, as you can hear pockets of inspiration from metals heavy hitters dotted throughout; "Choke In Silence" for example has more than a slight similarity to LAMB OF GOD in it's design, while "I Am The Blood" offers the steady yet commanding tones of MACHINE HEAD, especially during the chorus and interestingly midway during "Locate The Traitor" we're greeted with some unexpectedly haunting atmospherics, coupled with the tone of Grant's vocals you'd be forgiven for getting hints of CRADLE OF FILTH here, if only briefly. Far from a tribute act however, they come into a life of their own for the song "Fractured, Divided"...a soaring melodic power metal full of great hooks, classic in it's approach musically and featuring METAPRISM vocalist Theresa Smith; this is as catchy as old-school metal can get and it's a wonderful album highlight.
The album's low-points are if anything trivial and really don't detract from the overall quality of the record; "Plagues, Thieves And Murderers", despite carrying a strong message targeting a shapeless music industry is let down by it's spoken-word content, but it will appease fans of djent, while closing track "One Eyed King" suffers from probably the albums weakest vocal recording despite it's surging TRIVIUM-eque guitar work. Luckily though these points are minor and as I stated, the album as a whole really isn't effected or more importantly let down as such as a result...Gravil by name but they hit harder than fucking granite, overlook this lot and you will not be forgiven...[7]
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