GRAVE ROBBER - INNER SANCTUM

WHOAH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH!

Growing up I used to watch Chiller Diller Matinee, The Sci-Fi Flicks and The Monstrous Movie. Creature Features would make the occasional appearance if I could stay up that late. It was through those shows that I developed an appreciation of the early monster flix i.e. Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Godzilla, so on. Good always conquered evil and the bad guys always lost. They might come again, but that was half of the fun. The true sense of those early horror pieces was the ultimate overcoming of Good, and they were pretty darn fun as well.

In a similar way we have one the most original bands to come out in Christian music in a long time. Grave Robber’s second release entitled ‘Inner Sanctum’ is wonderful. Taking their obvious love of bands like The Misfits, Alice Cooper; Grave Robber has carved out a unique niche here. From their outrageous stage attire to the crazy stage names Wretched belts out the Vokills and shovel. Lamentor wails on guitar while Carcass bashes his bass. Not to be outdone Plague hits the Doom Tubs. Tongue firmly planted in cheek (if they had one) they are the complete package and real deal.

“Children of the night… what music they make…...”

The music is punk with metal influences and hooks that really get under your skin. “Valley of Dry Bones”, “Fear No Evil”, “Altered States”, “The Night has Eyes” all bring fabulous chorus’s that are so catchy they implore you to listen again. The punk vibe is so cool it just rocks. Yet there is enough metal here to make any headbanger happy. I don’t own the previous Grave Robber CD but from the clips I’ve heard on a couple of compilations this album has a richer production from the drums to guitars. Lots of energy and passion that seep from this recording throughout.

One of my favorite songs is “Tell Tale Heart”, an obvious nod to Edgar Allen Poe, but musically to the King (Elvis that is!). I could only imagine Wretched singing this to his favorite ghoul. There is even a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Children of The Grave” that just ROCKS! Lots of drive and it’s heavy.

Through out this release Grave Robber hit another homerun in the lyric department as the lyrics themselves are anything but clichéd. Metaphor and Allegory are here with obvious tact and wit. Throughout the package each song is skillfully crafted lyrically and musically, enough ‘Whoas’ to make me think of an old spooky movie. Retroactive Records has put out three Essential releases this year. First are “Ultimatum – Lex Metalis”, “Mainline Riders – WorldShaker” and now Grave Robber.

This is a fabulous rock n roll album that’s fun, thought provoking, and a great listen. It’s just getting tons of repeated play in my CD player. You can check ‘em out on their Myspace page or watch their video for ‘Altered States’ on YouTube. Support these bands and buy their stuff, don’t rip ‘em off through downloading…..

ROCK ON!

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9.5 AXES