The Metal Files

From the ashes of Iron Age, Integrity and featuring current members of Ancient VVisdom comes Graven Rite from Austin, TX.  I was handed cassette and CD demos a week or so ago by the singer at a St Vitus show .  I know all the guys in the band and have been told several times that I’d like it.  “Like” is a poor choice of words, really.  I love this demo.  This is good ol’ American traditional metal that sounds like it could have been on one of the old Metal Massacre compilations.  I understand this is a demo, but it really is too short.  I really like Jason’s vocals on this much more than what he did with Iron Age, which wasn’t bad either.  I just prefer cleaner vocals in general and that’s what you get with this demo.  It’s primarily mid-paced, but flows well.

I believe the 2-song cassette demo will be available in July 2012, not sure about the full 5-track CD.  If you’re into that classic Metal Blade sound, you’ll want to pick this up when it’s released.  A bit derivative?  Probably, but what isn’t these days?  It’s worth the listen for sure.

You can listen to 2 of the tracks here.

Tracks:

1. Preface
2. The New Faith (Wulfhere’s Prayer)
3. The Summoner’s Pit
4. A Slave To The Night
5. Bloodstone Ring

cassette cover