Band: Graveyard

CD Title: “Graveyard”

Band Website: www.myspace.com/graveyardsongs

Label: Transubstans Records

Release Date: 2007

I’ve mentioned too many of my friends how amazing it is that there is so much music coming out of Sweden these days. A buddy of mine at a local record store called Ditch Records explained to me that it had something to do with how music is a compulsory subject in Swedish schools. I’m not sure if that’s true or not (I haven’t checked it out) but there is definitely something “in the water” so to speak. And it seems to have affected more than just the progressive rock genre. Normally I don’t have space for reviewing other genre types here, this is after all a progressive rock website, but the good people at Record Heaven sent me a couple discs from their Transubstans label and one of them was a band called Graveyard and it was identified as “Heavy psychedelic 70’s hardrock.” I had to give it a try.

It’s uncanny but from the moment I put Graveyard on the player the description made perfect sense. And it was easy to see that if you didn’t know better you’d think this was a rare and obscure disc just unearthed from someone’s 70’s record pile. The musical feel is quite authentic to that late sixties or early seventies sound. Echoes of Blue Cheer, Mountain or Frigid Pink all came back to my ears, even a hint of Black Sabbath although not quite as doom laden. The guitar playing has that same distortion chop and every-so-often breaks into a Hendrix-like or early Santana riff. The overall tone and is one that seems to be paying homage to that earlier time. Now here’s the uncanny bit, while the band hearkens back to an earlier time there is also something very modern about the music. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s old and new at the same time. An excellent example of that trip back is the Pink Floyd-ish “Blue Soul” with its reedy organ laying down a spacey ambience while twin guitars lightly strum out blues riffs in counterpoint. It’s a trip.

As I said at the outset bands like Graveyard aren’t usually the type of bands reviewed here. That being said, while they may not be a progressive rock band, I have to say the music that Graveyard produces is more than a little enjoyable. As each track started I was reminded of different points of the Woodstock movie. Graveyard is very good at what they do and I’m sure that what these guys do will be thoroughly enjoyable for anyone young or old who enjoys a foray into the psychedelic side of rock.