Today’s Musical Monday is now a Tuneful Tuesday (or Warbling Wednesday?) as I finally got around to seeing a friend on Monday and, as such, everything is going to be subject to a slight shift this fortnight. I’m also not doing too great mentally lately – it’s all feeling a bit soupy and difficult – but I will do my best to do my featured artist justice. That artist is the darkly electronic American duo 8 Graves who have amassed a sizable following on platforms like Soundcloud, YouTube and Spotify. But despite that following, there isn’t a lot of information on these guys other than their names – Nick & Brett – a realisation which only seems to make my enjoyment of them that much more special. The albums I am reviewing are, so far as I can see, their first lengthy releases with between 4 and 5 songs per album, but each song packs a sizable enough punch to make the albums seem bigger.
‘Black’ was the first of these, released in 2018, it’s opening track ‘Bury Me Low’ racking up 14million hits on Spotify – and for good reason. This stand-out track boasts hauntingly hollow reverb, tightly metallic guitar chords, and a satisfying wind-up to a dramatic drop for the chorus. This is contrasted by my personal favourite, the softer ‘Hang’, which transitions between verse and chorus with the gentle release of a bubble bursting, trading melodic yet sinister guitars for a pulsing reverb drop that wouldn’t feel out of place in a nightclub. Mid track ‘OK’ features guest vocals from self-proclaimed ‘emo-pop artist’ AViVA which, with her serpentine voice, help to boost this slightly less remarkable tune. I say ‘less remarkable’ because this track only really gets going in the chorus, and even then it’s devoid of their signature drop. Unlike ‘Numb’ which, with its slow burn intro, launches into a drawn-out wall of reverb that almost takes you by surprise. And the gentle bridge with Brett’s repeated line ‘All I want is to feel a bit’, skilfully woven into the final chorus, finished off with a guitar solo flourish, takes this penultimate track to a whole other level. The hidden drop is featured even more prominently in ‘Burning Alive’ which switches from menacingly melodic verse to pounding discordant chorus in a matter of seconds – and it features another awesome guitar solo!
The following year, they released ‘White’, 1 track shorter but, in my opinion, a distinct improvement. The harshly ominous opener is ‘Cold World’, a track which, in addition to another unexpectedly heavy drop, now makes use of richly layered vocals to add character. This is followed by ‘Bones’, the eerily metallic track which cemented my status as a Gravedigger – the name for 8 Graves fanbase. With this one you can really feel the drop coming in the gradually increasing tempo of the backing, building like a wave before slamming down with shiver-inducing force. By contrast, ‘RIP’ has a very stripped back acoustic feel to it, featuring a beautiful guitar loop which lingers in the back of your head for almost the entire song and a drop you barely notice for its uncharacteristic gentleness. And given the bleak subject matter, this all combines to create one sombre little lullaby. However, the classic 8 Graves feel returns with ‘Beast’ – albeit with the creep factor turned up a notch: the unnerving guitar intro sounds like it was ripped out of a horror movie. And again, you can feel the drop coming as the drum tempo steadily increases, though this one explodes with less force, but is replete with cool guitar riffs and a funky rave note that always gives me shivers.
Finally, 2020, the year we all needed saving from, gave us ‘Red’. This one opens with ‘Begging to Bleed’, a slow burner like ‘Beast’ which explodes into a sustained and powerful drop and is, again, packed with my favourite complexity of guitar chords. The eerie follow-up ‘Better Off Dead’ serves up another unexpectedly hefty drop alongside the verses’ airy synths, slow drumbeats and Brett’s statement that ‘it’s not safe inside my head’. I think this chorus probably has one of my favourite guitar riffs of all. But the prize for probably my most played song goes to ‘Eye for an Eye’. The build-up to its electrifying, pulsing drop is very palpable in the already heightened drum tempo and the gradual stepping up in the pre-chorus, and yet it still catches you out! The bridge is also a little longer than most, drawing out your enjoyment of its complex eeriness. If you’re looking for something that marks this album as different, however, ‘Evil’ does just that, being softer and yet just as creepy as ‘Beast’ with distorted vocals, menacingly deep guitar chords, and a sound in the background you could mistake for muffled voices. But it’s the drop that separates it out, feeling more like an aftermath, swelling instead of crashing around you. This seems to carry over into the king of slow burners, ‘Teeth’, building right from the start into a beautifully menacing drop which, when laced with Brett’s lower pitched vocals, comes very close to being seductive.
The experience of listening to these electronically
synthesised tapestries is perhaps deepened by watching the videos, created by
Wei Jerry Chen, which strobe and morph with the music. You can see them in the
below links. And I have just realised how much of an essay this is becoming! I
think I better round it off here. But please do go check these guys out, if you
love club beats, if you’re still clinging to your emo roots, if you’re a fan of
the channel SuicideSheep, or even if you’re just looking for some sick guitar
tracks. Or all of the above.
FULL ALBUMS:
Black: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mBiaPaTkZmDJ9O66XbehNGWPL9SPcsw84
White: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_koNWw-uEmsi53IOp_mlNX3Be-YmP5_1lQ
Red: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kjjD3TENc9k2AtKcWFdLt3eWYYdWIPPy0
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