NOCTURNAL GRAVES are an Australian Satanic Death/Black Metal band who have released their 4^th album "An Outlaw's Stand" on Seasons of Mist records.

Whilst I have listened to a lot of bands that use Death and/or Black Metal motifs in their music such as OPETH, SWALLOW THE SUN and IHSAHN , I have avoided anything with overt Satanic overtones (as it's not my bag),

NOCTURNAL GRAVES then have produced an album that covers all three elements and is ferociously nasty throughout. Let's take the first 'cut' "Death to Pigs" which starts with a real sinister intro including squealing pigs and eerie choral singing in the background. Double kick-drums, distorted guitars and squealing leads dominate the track and musically I quite enjoyed it. I did make the mistake of searching for the song lyrics which include such gems as:

"We reject the voice of equality
And the words of humanist scum
Our revenge a monument of corpses
Hacked throats ripping death"

These words are spat out with venom and this is clearly a band who revel in their extremity. They did support WATAIN on the Australian leg of their tour who are well known for their overt Satanism and NOCTURNAL GRAVES forge a similar path.

"Command for Conflict" starts off in a thrash vibe with a short melodic breakdown before the chaos continues until a solitary drum beat leads to some more melody with some squealing lead guitar. Again musically I enjoyed the track although not a fan of the crackling vocals. Some searing thrashy leads throughout though which I liked.

"Across the Acheron" is steeped in Greek mythology and I needed a dictionary to decipher some of the lyrics. This whilst still ferocious, slows down the pace to a more melodic feel but still contains some blistering lead guitar over some chordal progressions which makes you feel uncomfortable and I guess that's the point.

"No Mercy for Weakness" comes next on a barrage of intensity and ferocity with lyrics such as

"Veins burst from the knives we wield
Cunts slaughtered and torn
No mercy for weakness"

At this point you're going to know whether this album is for you or not and the album doesn't veer from its path into oblivion and chaos forged from the skulls of the weak (probably).

Whilst the lyrics are depressing and grim, you wouldn't really expect anything else. As I'm unaccustomed to listening to pure unadulterated evil Death Metal, it's hard to compare this to anything I've listened to in the past. If you like intense distorted discordant Satanic Death/Black Metal with intense drumming, blistering lead guitar, black vocals and songs about pretty much killing everyone on this shit-stained planet, then you'll love it. I can't say I'm going to be humming the songs in my head but the theme is certainly memorable, if not the individual songs.