Gravastar mailed me a short while ago with a link to their debut, self-financed, album. Information is sparce, but a quick dig confirmed my suspicions (going by the alphabet used on their facebook page!) that they’re from Greece.
Pigeon-hole time – they list as melodic death, though I’d add that their sound has a definite industrial edge. Tying in with their astrophysical name, the subject matter of the songs is somewhat sci-fi as well.
As with many melodic death bands, the songs feature a heavy beat, harsh lyrics yet catchy rhythms. There are definitely some keyboards and/or samples kicking around in there as well, though the band is listed as a four-piece of guitar/vox, guitar, bass and drums. Maybe it’s just a production thing.
It’s a good album, and well-produced, with suitably crunchy guitar tones carrying every song to the point where I found myself either tapping my foot or nodding my head (depending on what else I was doing at the time) to each one. One exception in “Embracing Nebula” – a much slower, doomier number with vocals not dissimilar to those in Megadeth’s “Dawn Patrol”.
Genetic Genesis is still listed as “coming soon”, though the band have released the whole thing on YouTube for everyone to enjoy. I’ve embedded it below and it’s definitely worth your time.
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