Graves At Sea, painters of doom bleakness from the US, grab 2014 by the throat! The band is relocating, thus accommodating a new lineup, and are fast at work with no less than three releases scheduled for this year.
Formed in 2002, Graves At Sea have made a name in the underground with their crushing doom metal. After numerous lineup changes and a four-year hiatus, the band’s founding members Nick Phit (guitars) and Nathan Misterek (vocals) are putting the band back in action. Their facebook page mentions that in due time all members will be located in Portland, where Nick Phit resides since 2007. Asking him about the new lineup, he comments: “The new dudes are doing great. They have a lot of energy and excitement that I think the band needed. They’re not afraid to contribute and they’ve taken control over certain aspects of the band I didn’t want to deal with, like money and shit.”
2014 sees the band in full action; not only are they playing shows again, but they have two split albums and one individual release planned: “The split with Sourvein is already being pressed right now; we have the split with Loss that has Chiyo (Noothgrush) and Greg (Brainoil) [both former Graves At Sea members] on it as well. Then we have a two song LP coming out where we do a Sabbath cover.”
Having forged a distinct, superlatively heavy sound with previous releases, how would they describe their current state? “It’s just the next chapter. All of our releases progress from the previous. Will always sound like Graves but we just grow and get better”. A new-found sense of urgency, then? “This band keeps me going. It’s one of the few things in this world I have left that I care about, that I feel a part of. It’s who we are.”
Graves At Sea will be performing in the UK on 27 April (London, DesertFest) and 29 April (Manchester, The Roadhouse) 2014 with Survein.
