Finland's Grave With A View (GWAV from now on) are quite a young band; they formed in 2018, put out a single in 2019 and a full-length album in 2020. Now they return with a 4-song EP, including 3 own, new songs and a Placebo cover to wrap it up.

The opener 'Golden Blood' is heavily (pun intended) inclined towards Norway. The song opens with rather simplistic-sounding black 'n' roll, and reminds of Satyricon's more rocking output, as well as, due to its punky, strumming twist, Kvelertak's antics. However, just not as gritty as them two. The ghastly organ the song features fortifies horror vibe. Slow-paced 'Fugitives' has lots of open-string guitar but a hefty riff on its chorus. 'The Antagonist' is about heavy doom metal and punky stuff mixing.

Generally, there are some moments where Ghost and Mastodon influences are clear. The compositions are quite straightforward and made of a few different parts. The vocals are about powerful raspy throat, more high than low-pitched, plus some clean ones. Talking about straightforward songs, the EP is wrapped up with the cover of Placebo's 'Space Monkey'. It gives me similar vibes as The Kovenant's Babylon Zoo cover 'Spaceman'.

The V. Santura mix is really clean and up to the front, leaving nothing in shade. The band performed well, and that's very important because of the wide-open production.

In all, 'Fangs & Flesh' is a varying taster EP before the sophomore full-lengther. At the moment it is only available digitally.

Rating: 6 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
04/20/2021 20:35