Hiring cover artist Costin Chioreanu for the third time in a row may suggest a sense of continuity but in Grave’s case, that’s hardly a necessary measure.
As the last archetypal ‘Swedeath’ band truly standing, considering the whole Entombed/Entombed AD fiasco while Dismember are pushing up daisies, their stubbornness has become a strength.
But Out Of Respect For The Dead also confirms that Grave might have hit a ceiling they’ll never surpass as, like its two predecessors, this 11th full-length walks unsteadily across the thin line between staying true to their roots and finding new ways to disseminate their filth.
From that perspective, Out Of Respect may be their most aggressive work, but it’s also their least typically Swedish-sounding since 1996’s Hating Life, opting for an all-out death metal approach with more than few nods towards Autopsy as well as black metal. But, as best exampled on the near-10-minute final track Grotesque Glory, Grave don’t go far enough and end up with 50 minutes of dark yet unfulfilled promises as a result.
