#Spiral Grave

[doomedandstoned]

SPIRAL GRAVE Up The Ante on Barnstorming 2nd Record, ‘Ill Repute’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

SPIRAL GRAVE got out attention a few years back with their debut album 'Legacy of the Annointed' (2021). This four-member wrecking ball from the Maryland-Virginia area were formed out of the ashes of two legendary mid-Atlantic bands, Iron Man and Lord, in 2018.

Wasting no time, Spiral Grave stormed live stages and festivals with their fireball energy, then went right to work on a sophomore album, 'lll Repute' (2024), which Doomed & Stoned brings you in full today.

Screaming Mad Dee is back as the dedicated vocal frontman, one of the most recognizable set of pipes in the heavy underground, tapping into the ire of metal god glory. Seriously, there are few as formidable as Dee Calhoun when it comes to belting it out. Completing the picture is Willy Rivera on guitar, Louis Strachan on bass, and Jason “Mot” Waldmann on drums, who set this record ablaze.

Every song on this album has punch, thanks to this doomy collaboration. "Watching - From The Sky" comes at you with crunchy, exuberant power. "Eulogy for Queen City (21502)" is dank and swampy, conjuring visions of "apocalyptic riders' bloody reigns" -- the horsemen dancing on the backs of the bruised these past four years. Lyrics reflect jadedness in the face of uncertainty and despair, the norm for far too many still:

Bad mojo permeates this goddamn place Inhale the stale and bitter taste The one horse saddled up and fled here long ago As sundown blackened out the dirt around the bones

"Many artists have their COVID album," says the band, "and this is ours. Once lockdowns started we just hunkered down and started writing. The emotions that we were all feeling during that time are very evident in these songs. The legendary Frank Marchand was at the helm for recording, and brought the absolute best out in us."

"My Angel Comes Tonight" brings out a more ethereal side of the band, and illustrates Madd Dee's ability to woo you as well as wow you with classic ballad feel (a song about a mysterious she-creature "alive in the night").

"The Death of Ronnie M." appears to be a revenge fantasy set to the backdrop of unspeakable acts that would bring out bloody rage in any of us. The band brings brutality to bear for this song and the one that follows, "Lungful of Blood." This'll get the blood pumping alright. It's grim as fuck, chock full of dark fury. Lyrically heavy stuff, as well, as we'd expect from a singer who relishes the pen (see: Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia: Four Devilish Novelettes).

Title track "Ill Repute" brings us slithering riffage that winds, twists, and crawls like a copperhead, then strikes like a cottonmouth. Vocals get low and gravelly, the rhythms advancing methodically in churning fashion. There's some delirious riffing later in the song that gets humid and trippy, and lyrics decry those who were left "rotten – forgotten – until they are statistics," surely a reference to lockdowns and the culture of isolation that survives to this day. "No way to die." And we raise our fists and bow our heads in agreement.

"(Raising the) Chalice" gives me thrills and chills, a defiant toast in the face of the Apocalypse. And then comes "To Stare Down God which turns into a downright frenzy of groove metal as Dee screaming guts out. "Time is coming when I’ll stand in judgment – put my anger on display." Dee convinces you of it, too; he really does want to confront the Almighty. "I don’t want forgiveness – just want the Host to see. Their master has failed us beyond recovery." Those last screeching words ("I cast you out!") accompanied by rolling drums, bass, and guitar, make the perfect finish to this tour de force.

Spiral Grave's Ill Repute drops Friday, July 12th, on Argonauta Records (get it here and ).

Give ear...

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

[c-kiddo]

was worried parts of cr2 would not hold up on rewatch (especially seeing people hate the aeor arc so much) but ngl so far its either been good and fun as hell (travellercon, pirate arc) or just straight up banger after banger. like the xhorhas to angel of irons through to refjorged arc and then the cathedral.................. unrelenting slay

[crimeronan]

man, your one-shot is still on my mind and for a moment I thought that Hunter Angst comic you reblogged w/"I just miss him so much" and Luz staring into the void while he leans on her was about the whole "Hunter having complicated, involuntary grief for Belos and deeply needing to talk about it but feeling too ashamed to open up" thing instead of like. Flapjack. this is what you've done to my knee-jerk understanding of TOH!!! (/pos)

help i'm dying. i connected the flapjack thing immediately but as i was reblogging it i TOO had a moment of "i know it isn't and wouldn't be. but MAN it would suck for everyone involved if these feelings were about belos."

[saintadeline]

Bloodborne is seriously the most beautiful game of all time i think about this every single time i replay it but genuinely. Just exploring yharnam and staring in awe at how gorgeous everything is, its never about graphics, bloodborne has a noticeable stylization i think in a way even stronger than other fromsoft games, and the use of lighting and color palettes is just so good it makes me want to Be there. The game is already so stunning as it is ingame but i think having access to the map viewer on my own to the side made me appreciate it even more i love seeing the way everything is constructed and put together with just the flat textures before applying any engines and even as flat surfaces you can just feel the cohesion in the backgrounds, even textureless stripped of everything that makes it "beautiful" it still feels so unique and already gets the vibe across and that explains how the game feels the way it does visually, which is something i think a lot of current gen "high fidelity" games struggle with. Hard to explain what I mean but I feel it. Also i love the slight like chromatic aberration effect bb has on the edges of the screen it adds such a nice touch to the atmosphere honestly. Sighs dreamily

[localravenclaw]

I did another thing

I crossed

HIM and HIM

And got

HIM! ♡

Marcus Lopez (Deadly Class) × Sebastian Sallow

Screenshot by @shingodzilla98 ♡

[ashleys-coffin]

Uh

[the-avaricious-meddler]

7: Spiral Like A Whirlpool

8: Spiral Like A Tornado

9: Spiral Like A Hurricane

10: Spiral Like A Dying Galaxy

11: Spiral Like A Black Hole

[angeart]

is this something? this might be something.

[filmap]

Portrait of Jennie William Dieterle. 1948

Lighthouse The Graves, Massachusetts, USA See in map

See in imdb

[olli-online]

damn these trauma responses got hands. imust kill this existance of myself completely cut everyone off and delete everything and then come back 2 years later and do it all again

[hereissomething]

saw jigsaw with orgy and whoof, u could feel the joss whedon film era vibes all over this snarky high n mighty script. the only thing of note that i can possibly say is billy had cute glowing eyes and the credits had good buttrock.

0/10 no hoffman, no fun😤

[xelys-xlys]

mommy?

I am attached to these two, although I gave him good designs, I will not leave these two characters aside

he deserved to draw it

pAc-MoM?

told mom her wives :°

[threehuskiesinatrenchcoat]

I have this amazing idea in my mind. That the song “ country girl” by Luke Bryant is graves theme song- Al walks in on him dancing to that shaking his ass and just laughing- but then role reversal when graves walks in while alejandro shaking his ass to some Selena song

this is really funny and cute but on a serious note in terms of theme songs pun intended consider the ballad of g and x by grandson and jackals can't be bothered to dream by refused and maybe possibly even mercy by muse

[sooouth]

guess who failed at drawing skeletons.

[the-avaricious-meddler]

Name: Mr Spirals Moniker: None Age: ??? Species: Curator Gender/Pronouns: None, it/its Profession: Haunting the Narrative Closest To: Mr Spirals Furthest From: The Tower of Ash and Graves

Personality: [REDACTED]

History: [REDACTED]

[the-gayest-sky-kid]

its so horrible that i have to be responsible for my own mental health >:( i want to finish this fanfic but i know im in the wrong place for this >>>:////