The Ancient Disease

     Mountain Grave is a quasi-technical band who seamlessly blends riffs and makes logical sense out of chaos. These Indiana-based metal heads cover a lot of ground in just five songs, songs which strike a rare balance between being rich in complexity and length time while avoiding the pitfalls of staleness and over experimentation. Strong musical direction, raw talent, and a good production value makes The Ancient Disease an enjoyable listen with many high points.       Mountain Grave heavily draws from thrash and death metal, but The Ancient Disease is a black metal album at heart, albeit with a cleaner production than more traditional bands of the genre. It’s like if Toxic Holocaust had more of a Swedish death metal influence. The great songwriting is executed to perfection; the drums are tight, the guitars have some great contrasting melodic sections along with more straightforward shreddage, the bass is noticeably atmospheric, and the vocals switch between frenzied and foreboding in accordance to timing and tempo. I’ll even give them a pass on the synthesizer, which is used sparingly, sounds challenging to play, and does lend to the song.      The satisfaction I derived from listening to The Ancient Disease is a special feeling that reminds me why I look for new bands and keep listening to metal. This is a very full and complete album. My ears felt well fed by its completion – complements to the chef(s).