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

Lethal Limits

Elevate EP
GhettoBlaster Productions (2025)

As far as I can gather Jeff Corso has been playing in bands in the Bay Area for the past 20 years but seems like exclusively hardcore until now. Full disclosure: I’m only reviewing this because Aesop from Hickey plays drums. That said, I generally only review stuff I like, so go figure. This doesn’t sound like Hickey but since … Read more

Dealbreaker

New Sides
Late Again Records, Toll Free Records (2026)

Dealbreaker popped onto my radar as part of a package tour with Pro Wrestling, who cold called me with a Penske File namedrop. This story is a bit of a Canadian roundabout, but their methodology worked: I listened to their music and dug it enough to review it. And I'm mentioning it because, at times, Dealbreaker reminds me of The … Read more

The Library Is On Fire

Degeneration Elegies
The Abyss, Ltd. (2026)

There’s a certain kind of band that never quite fits the moment they arrive in. Sometimes too jagged for one scene, too melodic for another. The Library Is On Fire were one of those bands in the early 2000s, hovering somewhere between indie-punk urgency and power-pop instinct without fully settling into either. On Degeneration Elegies, their first full-length in over … Read more