Grond / Graceless – Endless Spiral of Terror (Split)

Label: Raw Skull Recordz
Release date: 30-10-2019

Grond / Graceless – Real talk: I do not like splits. I prefer my albums as isolated affairs restricted to the bands they belong to – a full EP is much more preferable to me than a split, mainly because it features two distinct voices in it and so fucks up my perception in ways I don’t want it fucked up. Well, that, and Chikara’s inability to do anything but splits irritates me. But I digress.

Here we have a split from Xtreem Music death metal stalwarts Grond (the band with one of the best logos around) and joining them are Raw Skull deathdoomers, Graceless. Grond brings the usual, semi-groovy death riffs, grumbling bass, fast drums and throaty growls to the table and Graceless… well, they bring much the same, but with a slight (read, SLIIIIIGHT) touch of doom in the mix.

For the Grond side, the main problem of their previous releases (Unleash the Kraken especially) persists in a bad way: they do everything right to no effect. Their sound remains to be deathlike, groovy, heavy; their songs rage, rush and crawl but all of it remains indistinct and unmemorable throughout. Good songs and solid musicianship to be sure, it just doesn’t stick. From the opening of Of Boreal Fire to the end notes of Glacial Maelstrom, there is nothing in Endless Spiral of Terror that would urge the listener to check out their other stuff.

Now the other reason why I don’t like splits is that if one band outperforms the other, then even if you loved the first band, you might be disappointed. Not the case here as Graceless disappoints me in equal measure, but this time by adding dodgy guitar tones to the mix. The “lead” guitar tone in the awfully titled King ov Pain (I hate the “ov” thing, sue me) is annoying as hell and at six minutes plus, the song doesn’t have anything to justify its own length. It stretches into doomy territory somewhat, but otherwise is a chugfest. Revenge Us is even worse with its middling mood and Ruins of Desolation and In Thy Honour are both forgettable.

See, the main problem of both bands on Endless Spiral of Terror, just speaking for the split itself, is that they do everything right. Paradoxical as it might sound, the issue is that that is all they do. It’s like they are ticking off boxes without any passion, painting by the numbers without any kind of actual will to take it (as they ought to) one step beyond the most basic ingredients. The result of this is a sense of lethargy and boredom that robs the split of any energy that it might have otherwise had.

So all-in-all, here’s my verdict: if you like Grond’s half, check ’em out, ’cause that’s what you get. If you like Graceless’ half, check ’em out, ’cause you might dig their stuff. For myself, I am not going to be revisiting this split, nor am I in any way moved enough to listen to anything else by either band.

Grond / Graceless Line-Ups:
Grond
Kist – vocals
Raze – guitars
Void – guitars
Daemorph – bass, effects
Kadath – drums
Graceless
Kreft – guitars, vocals
Björn – vocals
Jasper – bass
Marc – drums

01. Grond – Of Boreal Fire
02. Grond – ßetahemoth
03. Grond – Glacial Maelstrom
04. Grond – Darkness (Cianide cover)
05. Graceless – Ruins of Desolation
06. Graceless – King ov Pain
07. Graceless – Revenge Us
08. In Thy Honour

Grond Facebook
Grond Bandcamp
Graceless Facebook
Graceless Bandcamp