Review / 200 Words Or Less
Gravehill
Practitioners Of Fell Sorcery

A389 (2011) Jon E.

Gravehill – Practitioners Of Fell Sorcery cover artwork
Gravehill – Practitioners Of Fell Sorcery — A389, 2011

Gravehill are a band formed from Gehenna. While the band have persevered and continue on to this day this demo is the only recording with this lineup. Formed to fully embrace the members love of old school death metal and hardcore. This lineup including the Gehenna vocalist Mike recorded this and pressed maybe 100 copies total on cassette and cd upon it's initial release. Having since become a hard to find piece of the 7 crowns legacy A389 did the right thing and picked it up to make a real release of it.
What of the music itself? If you took Terrorizer and Gehenna and mangled the corpses together Gravehill would be the inevitable result. Trading in much of the hardcore tendencies of Gehenna for grinding metallic riffs and demonic content this shows the members love of metal. The guitars blaze along creating semi melodic (not Gothenberg style) backdrops for what may be the most demonic vocals Mike Cheese has ever committed to tape . This only helps to convey the truly evil lyrical imagery within the lyrics. The music is played in a very non technical style instead they rely on being menacing and fast throughout. This does little to hurt the band as their style is meant to be simple.
This piece of Gehenna's history has been given an opportunity to be re-birthed, remastered and given it's proper due. While it will most likely not appeal to most new metal fans due to both it's recording style and lack of pretense it does shine a light on the influences that the members carry and how musically adept they are. As homage goes this is near the top as for something new this does little to bring something truly different to the table. The simple fact is this is old school style death made for those that love it by those that love it.

7.8 / 10Jon E. • August 15, 2011

Gravehill – Practitioners Of Fell Sorcery cover artwork
Gravehill – Practitioners Of Fell Sorcery — A389, 2011

Related news

Gravehill adds new guitarist

Posted in Bands on August 1, 2010

Gravehill, Cardiac Arrest, Hod tour

Posted in Tours on June 13, 2010

Recently-posted album reviews

Carnivorous Flower

Carnivorous Flower
Dead Broke Rekerds (2025)

There's a time to be cerebral and there's a time to tell it like it is. Carnivorous Flower lives by the latter. Their debut has 10 songs: 18 minutes in total. Each of the songs is catchy as heck and you can pretty much singalong on your first listen. It's "simple" punk with peppy energy and a lot of heart. … Read more

SUB/SHOP

Democatessen
Independent (2025)

Richmond, VA has always had a way of bending punk into something sharper and stranger, and Sub/Shop feels like a direct product of that tradition. Their EP democatessen isn’t a debut in the wide-eyed sense but a statement from musicians who’ve already spent years inside heavy, confrontational music and are now choosing precision over spectacle. Across six tracks, Sub/Shop delivers … Read more

Guerilla Teens

I Cyclops / Pride of the Savanna-7"
Heavy Medication Records (2024)

One-eyed wind-up dancing eyeballs boppin' and weavin' with Scott "Deluxe" Drake and Jeff Fieldhouse from the one and only and never replicated the almighty "The Humpers". I was lucky to see them back in the 90's in Toronto at a hot, sweaty club in the dead of summer, back when there was a blue hue of cigarette smoke, a faint … Read more