I am gonna be totally honest and try not to be too harsh, but in my time I have seen a cover band of Black Sabbath, good bands do good versions of Black Sabbath songs and I have seen Ozzy from Black Sabbath. That being said, there can only be one Black Sabbath.
The Graviators reach on their third release "Motherload". Its good hard rock and it grooves, but the sound is superfluous."Leifs last Breath/Dance of the Valkyrie" (I don't know which one belongs in parentheses) - the push is a few beats slower than "Paranoid" and the lyrics read like something Amon Armarth passed on. The guitar solo is cool but the rhythm section gets muddy. "Narrow Minded Bastards" and Bed of Bitches" are again good in the hard rock department, but already things are sounding the same. The muddiness, the vocals sounding like a sick Ozzy and the guitar solo outshining everything.
A very nice surprise in 'Lost Lord" starts when a big jazz fest shows up. This one is worth the cover charge on iTunes. An extended solo (like when Black Sabbath experimented with jazz) and even in some points the vocals are listenable.
"Tigress of Siberia"(?) - I like the bass riffs in this one. There's a 3 1/2 minute instrumental for the intro then the singing starts. "Corpauthority"(they never explain the title) and "Drowned in Leaves" have that "Fairies wear Boots" feel. The music is more melodic and not as muddy, but I didn't get the vibe. Truthfully I could not listen to the whole song of "Eagles Rising". It was noisy, muddy and challenged my nerves.
Remember the scene in Spinal Tap when the Stonehenge came down way smaller than the Druids? Well, this song "Druid's Ritual" puts that visual in my head. I wish the song was as cool as that scene, but the guitar solo is - he really gets into the Tony Iommi mode.
Well that concludes my very first semi-negative review. They got other very good reviews saying that they are Doom/Stoner/Retro music at its best. I didn't like the muddiness, but it was recorded on analog and then mastered. I didn't care for the vocals, but "Lost Lord" with the heavy jazz separated this song from the others. It showed their originality and versatility. Versatility is key and that key needs to unlock the potential this band has to be much more than a Black Sabbath knock-off.
I'll let you be the judge on the rating. Listen to them and let me know what you think. Remember, I'm a musician and grew up listening to Sabbath, Rainbow and all the Godfathers, so I am really picky when it comes to the old school sound and what bands do with it. They have a Facebook page but no site that I can find. Check 'em out. You might like them.
Tim Duran, HMS
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