Gravewürm

 

Like Crucifier, GRAVEWÜRM is one of those American bands that toiled away in the underground with demo after demo before releasing actual studio albums. Hailing from near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before relocating to Northern Virginia (where I live!) and then Ohio, Gravewürm plays a raw, angry black metal not for the faint of heart.

Originally formed as Dominion in 1990, they started off as more of a doom-death band. But as the main force behind the band,  Funeral Grave (born one Kevin Fye), became more interested in bands like Goatlord, Beherit, Burzum, and Emperor, it became necessary to change the face of Dominion completely. And so by 1992, Gravewürm had emerged.

1993's Possessed by Darkness is an early demo

By their own admission, their sound draws on first-wave black metal bands and classic heavy metal. There are no blastbeats, and the song structures are very straightforward. The influence of old-school bands like Venom, Sodom, and Hellhammer is apparent as well.

This is the title track to their '96 demo

By the band's own admission, it was a challenge to get record labels interested in putting out a full-length studio album. Their sound didn't match any of the black metal trends of the day (clones of the Norwegian styles of Darkthrone or Mayhem, or symphonic black metal), so label after label passed on them in the late 1990s. That didn't stop them from releasing vicious underground demos!

This is a live performance of "Ancient Storms of War", the title track from their first official studio album

Once labels expressed interest, Gravewürm simply has not stopped releasing album after album of nasty, vile old-school black metal. 2000's Ancient Storms of War was their first official studio album (see above for the title track), and since that time, they've released over twenty albums.

"Under the Banner of War" comes from the 2005 album of the same name

Gravewürm has also admitted that they're not afraid to mix it up a little bit. Sometimes an album will draw heavily on old-school black/thrash,  sometimes it will draw on doom metal, and so on. At the end of the day, you know you're getting raw, brutal black metal that is true to the old-school ethos!

Off of 2010's Blood of the Pentagram, this is "Goat Command"

"Lair of the Gravewurm" is from 2015's Doomed to Eternity

Select Discography:

Bestial Wrath (demo) (1992)

The Morbid Decomposure of Mankind (demo) (1993)

Possessed by Darkness (demo) (1993)

Sinister Curse EP (1994)

Massacre in Heaven (demo) (1994)

At the Gates of Armageddon (demo) (1995)

Ancient Storms of War (demo) (1995)

Nocturnal Spells (demo) (1996)

Command of Satan's Blade (demo) (1998)

Ancient Storms of War (full-length album) (2000)

Dark Souls of Hell (full-length album) (2002)

Into Battle (full-length) (2003)

Under the Banner of War (full-length) (2005)

Funeral Empire (full-length) (2009)

Next time: STORMLORD