There’s an element of mystery surrounding Australian duo Grave Upheaval, enhanced by the sparing title of this sophomore album (the second time they’ve left an album untitled, but let’s go with II, (Nuclear War Now!) and its similarly named tracks. It’s reinforced by a guttural, terrifying sound evident right from opener ‘I’: a Funeral crawl through a barren, infested wasteland, with a harsh ambiance and dry, feral growls leading into a pacy, Death-infused barrage. Yet despite the furious onslaught of blast beats, the blood-curdling vocal scour and rumbling background fuzz retain the omen of apocalypse.

The inventive Blackened-Death horror peddled by compatriots Portal is integral to the band’s sound, not surprising given Ignis Fatuus provides stickwork for both, but there’s a switching tempo of the tracks which keeps a largely unflinching bedrock interesting. His frenetic drumming in ‘II’ is definitely audible but sucked into a near bit-part role by the oppressive fuzz of guitar and bass. The swerving riff of ‘III’ adds to the chilling vocal style, a voice of liquid nitrogen that infiltrates and violates the body, and the building tension and diseased roars give way to the oscillating riff of ‘IV’, which maintains a leaden pace while tempting the listener into action with the beckoning of a leprous finger.

The epic ‘V’ and more pensive ‘VI’ sandwich a blend of crushing chords, mournful chants and arid rasps between vicious and uncompromising bludgeon. ‘VII’ and ‘VIII’, meanwhile, close the album in fulminating fashion: rarely breaking the loping stride yet introducing a scream here, a cymbal or sudden silence there, which reduces the receiver to a quivering wreck. The latter’s gradual build-up of waspish guitars into a Black storm is bowel-emptying, and the most apt way to conclude what is not merely an album but an emotional experience.

What II displays, as much innovation and technical ability, is how much scope exists in the melding of styles. Close relatives Aevangelist for example, are equally fine purveyors of the Black / Death / Doom amalgam yet reside in a different universe to this nightmare vision, a near-unbearable yet euphoric juxtaposition which is the perfect soundtrack for the journey through purgatory to the gates of hell.

8.0/10.0

PAUL QUINN