Year of release: 2019
Label: Helldprod Records
Rating: 7,3 / 10
Did you miss the old school black evil? Probably not, because I write about it every week, but nothing can be done about it - you have to listen. Before you is HELLISH GRAVE, a good Brazilian group, which, in the name of unshakable South American traditions, shamelessly copies all the good old metal at once. Copies diligently, wisely, maintaining a sense of style and measure. Each song, as a rule, contains the following ingredients: a bubble of a leisure melodic Heavy Metal, a couple of handfuls of Speed / Thrash Metal, a hefty piece of BATHORY from 1984-1989 smoked on candles, but still dripping with blood, plus a pinch of early CELTIC FROST. The influence of BATHORY has the special attention. The vocalist sings like Kvorton’s sibling, and the sound and combinations of riffs with sinister keyboards are sometimes indistinguishable from “Under the Sign of Hell”. The press release also draws attention to the similarities with NIFELHEIM, but I would lower it - here we are talking more about working in the same style, rather than about direct borrowing.
The album goes into your ear very smoothly, but it has its problems. For the time being, they are veiled by analogue sound, redeemed by perfect aesthetics, but closer to the middle even classy guitar solos cannot distract you from how poorly some fragments are combined. The worst example is, perhaps, “Possessed by the Witch”, where the fast blasting in the vein of "Blood Fire Death" is broken by a stupid major melody so inappropriate that I want to tear my hair out. Such are the shoals, repeating every now and then, that spoil the impression. However, I strongly recommend you to give this album a try or two.
English (UK) 
Крыўская