Now here is a surprise, a death metal band from Finland! Hailing from Raahe the trio have been going for a couple of years and, on the strength of this five track EP, their sound is pretty raw and fairly old school death metal band with a big touch of the black. 

“Hideous Deeds” kicks things off launching with some grinding hard riffs and growly vocals and isn't at all bad although the vocals tend to get a bit “kermity”  and there's perhaps slightly too much repetition. “Pus Suckling Leeches”, musically at least, is reminiscent of Venom though the growling backing vocals don't seem to fit this repetitive dirge before the track finishes in a flurry. “Swamp Terror Pt1” kicks of with some  chunky guitar work and overall has a better structure but “Seven Coffins” seems to be lacking in polish and production even though there is a nice stoner groove going on allied with a bit Satyricon in the delivery. Last up is “Demented Killer” which picks up the pace and also offers a cleaner lead vocal, though the drums sound a bit tinny compared to the heavy chugging guitar work.  

All in all Mystic Grave have delivered something of a mixed bag here and even though they do have a certain appeal in the death/black metal marketplace whether they are offering anything original to the genre is another question and as of yet they don't have the answer.

Contact: www.myspace.com/mysticgrave       

Mike Clark