It is a pretty mighty statement from Graveyard. The three years since their last album has seen the world go further into some right-wing, dystopian hell and every passing news bulletin seems to edge us closer to nuclear war than any time since the 1980s, and what do those scamps in Graveyard do? They call their album “Peace”, but there’s a bit more to it than that, as well.
The opening track here, the absolutely glorious “It Ain’t Over Yet” stomps in a way they haven’t in a long time. It swirls, the lead from Joakim Nilsson and Jonatan La Rocca Ramm could have you doing air guitar like “The Trooper” and what is more, there is an organ lick that positively is Deep Purple rock n roll.
If you thought those days were gone as far as the quartet were concerned – and as good asc 2015’s “Innocence And Decadence” was it was a mellow, chilled out record, then, they have got the taste for riffs back here. “Cold Love” is the type of thing that Rival Sons were so good at before they disappeared down some trippy rabbit hole, for example. And it’s not the only one either.
That is not to say they have lost their experimental edge – and you would be disappointed if they had, frankly. “See The Day” is three minutes of the most laid-back licks you can imagine, but for every one of those, there’s a “Please Don’t” which is an exercise in groove. What it also does is contain the line: “I got some tape for my reel to reel”, perhaps a nod to the recording process here. Working with Chips Kiesbye (The Hellacopters) has seen them return to the old ways of working and being like this suits them.
There is a wonderfully fuzzy quality about the guitar on “The Fox” which carries on as though the 1970s haven’t happened yet, never mind the 21st Century, and if “Walk On” comes on with a bit more pulsing urgency and rumble, then it is cheerfully followed up by “Del Manic” which is not so much manic as possessing the same dark cool as Nick Cave.
“Bird Of Paradise” is perhaps the one place on the record where the two worlds which Graveyard inhabit in 2018 are closest aligned, but for the most part, it’s a freak out like “A Sign Of Peace” which races along in a fast lane with a Sabbath tune or two blasting on the stereo.
One of the most interesting aspects of “Peace” is that if it began at its most slamming, then it ends with its longest and most meandering thing. “Low (I Wouldn’t Mind)”. A chilled-out affair, with a hypnotic side, you do feel though that it wants to break out and become a beast at any moment, as it builds to something of a crescendo. As a metaphor for the record itself there is none better.
Six albums into their career, Graveyard have come up with something fresh, and have rarely sounded better. There are many reasons to give “Peace A Chance”. Sorry, for the obvious, but it couldn’t be resisted – much like this record.
Rating 8/10
