Gravekeeper

DSBM, a.k.a depressive, suicidal black metal,  is an over saturated genre. Anyone with rudimentary guitar skills and a heart of despair has a DSBM project. As a result of this genre flooding, very few DSBM bands are any good. Gravekeeper, of Ottowa Canada, has managed the very rare feat of making DSBM interesting. 

Gravekeeper, with his self-titled full-length release, presents an interesting blend of depressive, melancholy black metal with elements of drone and doom. The drone and doom parts are often low in the mix, acting to accentuate the pounding drums, tremelo picked guitars, and inhuman vocals present in every song. The production on this record is perfect. It is murky without being tinny and it actually sounds heavy, a quality that most black metal, depressive or otherwise, lacks. The whole album sounds not of this world. It is depressive in the way that the works of Lovecraft are depressive. Depressive with the dread of knowing something beyond you and your world creates depression, that being small and victimized by something beyond your comprehension creates melancholy. 

Track number four, "Find Peace (In Demise)" is a highlight of the album. It is a thoroughly unnerving three-minute journey into looping feedback, demonic vocals, and guitar melodies capped off by a sudden burst of ambient guitar swells. One track even offers a sliver of hope. "Alas, The Sun Rises Tomorrow" has a surprisingly upbeat melody and vocals less abrasive than the usual fair. It's jarring and doesn't fit with the mood. 

This album is for those that like their DSBM otherworldly and closer to Funeral than Shining. 

8/10

Listen/Buy here: http://06gravekeeper13.bandcamp.com/album/gravekeeper-2