When I listened to GRAVETAKER's "Sheer Lunacy," I thought: "This is either some of the rawest Black/Death Metal I've heard in a long time or it's a demo." I was right on both counts, maybe. GRAVETAKER is an extreme metal duo from Oulu, Finland. On April 2, 2025 they released their debut "Sheer Lunacy" via Iron Bonehead Productions. I have seen it listed both as a demo and debut.

"Sheer Lunacy" comprises five tracks and has a total runtime of 36 minutes. Not a lot of innovation going on with this one—just raw metal buried in the red, which of course isn't a bad thing when it comes to extreme metal. I mean, that's what we came here for. One thing that surprised me was the melodic acoustic intros three of the tracks boast, namely "Black Sepulchers," "Aberrations," and "Revelation." Usually with an album this visceral you don't get any cooked bits. The juxtaposition between the extreme barrage of metal off-set with melodic acoustic intros isn't a terribly innovative technique but in this case it's very well executed and helps to create a distinctive vibe.   

As far as standout tracks, I'm going with the opening track, "Black Sepulchres," partly for that intro but mostly for the primal delivery. Frenetic, deafening, evil as fuck. Love it. Second on my list is "Revelation," the final and longest track on the album. Of them all, this one is the most visceral and analog sounding. When I started to think this album was more of a proper debut, this track had me thinking demo again. Note, this isn't a bad thing. In fact, this is one of my favorite tracks on the album. 

If you like your metal raw and visceral, GRAVETAKER's "Sheer Lunacy" should be on your menu. Some back-to-basics sheer chaos to shred your eardrums with. If you need your metal refined and esoteric, you'll need to look elsewhere. Hopefully we'll be hearing more from these lads in 2026.