On Throne of Katarsis’s third full-length, Ved Graven, the duo of Infamroth and Vardavlv has expanded to a full lineup to unleash some of the band’s darkest material to date. In the vein of classic Mayhem and Emperor, the music on Ved Graven is raw and stripped down. Throne of Katarsis wield some cold, harsh black metal to paint a pitch black sky. This music is darker than Satan’s taint.
The unrelenting evil onslaught is start to finish on Ved Graven. Throne of Katarsis lead you down a dark, meandering path. The sparse production makes everything feel gritty and filthy. This album demands your full attention. It takes a bit to realize it’s truly compelling nature. The songs slowly wrap you up in their sinister web, and each one continually grows stronger.
The eerie “Av Dypets Kulde” features a somber keyboard interlude before the fuzzed out guitars commence building an impenetrable wall of darkness. “Holy Remains the Weak” is a strong, standout track on the album. Infamroth commands with raspy demonic vocals as the guitars fall into a groove. “Mesterens Tilbake Komst” spits hellfire directly in your face. It roars through scathing the listener at a ferocious pace created by the frantic drumming and feverish riffing. Infamroth spews some unholy screams and also lapses into a deep, resonating clean style vocal briefly adding to the madness. Every song on Ved Graven is deep and winding. You won’t realize it until it’s too late.
Throne of Katarsis have built a deep, dark network of catacombs with their sound on Ved Graven(appropriately meaning ‘At the Grave’). It gives a nod to true classics of the black metal genre while carving it’s own unrelenting evil sound. This will surely become a staple in the black metal world. Definitely one I’ll enjoy blasting on cold dark days.
Rating: 8/10
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