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Remember a few years back when\u00a0Grethor<\/strong> was named the Best Unsigned Band in Virginia<\/a>? This author sure can, ’cause in that same year they had released a killer EP called Cloaked in Decay<\/em><\/a> that was pretty\u00a0great. Well it was only a few months ago that I discovered Grethor were about to drop their first full-length album, and so the anticipation was high…<\/p>\n

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That’s the ultimate quest with this review: to find out if this debut album ruled. Let me start out by saying that Yes, it does rule. A few years ago when I discovered the aforementioned EP, a couple of attributes immediately set them apart from the rest: a unique and raspy voice; dissonant riffs (Gorguts<\/strong> style), and guitar solos. All of those features are present in abundance on Damnatio Memoriae<\/em>, but there’s so much more to offer, and I’m gonna tell you all about it.<\/p>\n

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As the album begins we are treated with an incredible song called “The Imminent Unknown” which sets the stage with a creeping bassline accompanied by slow, grinding double-bass drums and distorted guitar that comes at a doomy pace. Throughout its five and a half minute runtime the band slowly injects bits of chaos into the mix, showing us that we were foolish to expect a traditional intro song. By the end of “The Imminent Unknown” the listener should have a pretty good idea of what to expect through every step of this LP’s duration: unpredictability in song structure and a no-holds-barred assault of tempo changes. There’s a consistency among its 11 songs that shows true staying power for Grethor, and while I hesitate to say they’ve adopted a formula for great composition, they certainly have developed a winning recipe for it.<\/p>\n

“The Last Manifesto” (embedded below) provides the inverse of that first song in how it starts at breakneck speed and slows into an easily digestible groove; and alternates continually betwixt the two paces. Halfway through you’ll find one of those finger-kissing guitar solos that help Grethor really stand out from the black metal crowd, and then another spectacular shreddy solo to conclude it.<\/p>\n