Grave Robber
GRAVE ROBBER

Be Afraid Grave Robber - Be Afraid (Retroactive) 2008

1. "The Exorcist" (2:08)
2. "Skeletons" (1:50)
3. "Burn, Witch Burn" (2:43)
4. "Bloodbath" (1:43)
5. "Rigor Mortis" (3:54)
6. "Buried Alive" (2:15)
7. "Screams of the Voiceless" (2:53)
8. "Golgotha" (1:28)
9. "Reanimator" (2:39)
10. "Schizofiend" (2:53)
11. "Dark Angel" (1:48)
12. "I Wanna Kill You Over and Over Again" (2:36)
13. "I, Zombie" (2:43)
14. "Army of the Dead" (4:11)
BONUS TRACK
15. "Rigor Mortis" (3:56)

Grave Robber delivers simplistic, punk-based hard rock with catchy, sing-along choruses and haunting vocals. Not being a huge fan of punk, it's hard for me to make any definitive comparisons, but I am reminded of the Misfits at times, while some of the guitar work reminds me of classic Ramones. Almost all the songs are short, fast and upbeat with a sound I would describe as "bouncy". They most certainly have a pop appeal to their song writing with each song possessing a catchy hook. One thing that does show up in song after song is this melodic, "Whoah, oh, oh" gang chorus. I suppose this is part of the band's signature sound, however, I did find it a little distracting after a while since it seems to be used in at least half the songs here, if not more.

The band's vocalist possesses one of those haunting David Bowie-esque voices. At one point, during in songs like Rigor Mortis and "Buried Alive" I even heard a bit of an Alice Cooper influence.

Grave Robber's looks is pretty unique, looking not unlike the ghoulish image on the cover. Personally I find band's like this to be a lot of fun. Lordi and Slipknot have had success with this type of horror-ish look in recent years. To match the band's costumes, they have names like Wretched (Vokills, Shovel), Dr. Cadaver (Doom Tubes, Vokills), Nameless (Guitar, Vokills) and Maggot (Bass, Vokills). Frankly, it doesn't make a bit of difference how interesting the band's image is if the music isn't equally as interesting. I think that most people will find that Grave Robber deliver a sound that will draw them in, even if they aren't a big fan of punk.

What's even more interesting is that despite the ghoulish appearance and the "horror punk" label, Grave Robber's lyrics are not shallow at all. Rather, they give their listeners some thought provoking lyrics in each and every song, while at the same time not backing down from controversy. "Screams of the Voiceless" is an outspoken pro-life song. Other songs deal with inner struggles and Biblical topics. "Re-Animator" is a song about Jesus' Christ's resurrection from the dead and subsequent victory over evil.

Inner Sanctum Grave Robber – Inner Sanctum (Retroactive) 2009

1.   Inner Sanctum [instrumental] (1:46)
2.   Detonation A.D. (2:57)
3.   Shadows (2:48)
4.   Altered States (2:55)
5.   Fear No Evil (3:16)
6.   I'm Possessed  (2:11)
7.   Tell Tale Hearts (4:01)
8.   The Night Has Eyes (2:45)
9.   Valley Of Dry Bones (3:35)
10.  Men In Black (2:54)
11.  I Spit On Your Grave (3:05)
12. Children of the Grave (3:43)
Wretched
Wretched

Whooooah! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! The banshee cry of the undead? The bone chilling sounds of attacking zombies? No, it’s the calling card of our favorite shovel carrying, corpse, punk-rawk band Grave Robber. With Grave Robber’s sophomore release, they’ve actually created a sound that is slightly more unique than their debut, which most certainly had a huge Misfits influence. That influence is still here, but the band have added a lot more. Rather than straight punk rock, the masked ones have also mixed in some straight forward rock and roll and metal influences. As a matter of fact, "Tell Tale Heart" is about as rock and roll as you can get, sounding a bit like Alice Cooper meets Elvis Presley on the Sha Na Na show. This song is an obvious nod to Edgar Allen Poe, as well as the king of rock and roll himself. "Valley Of Dry Bones", despite the "Whoah oh oh’s" has a ton of 1980’s metal influence, complete with a simple, chugging guitar riff and a crunchy guitar tone. There is even a hidden bonus track of Black Sabbath's "Children of The Grave", which is an obvious choice for this band. Their version sticks pretty close to the original, with the exception of the eerie keyboards and psycho laughter in the bridge.

Where Grave Robber really shine is that they know how to write simple, hooky songs. Even after turning the CD off, I still have "whoooahh, oohh, the night has eyes" echoing through my head. The lyrics are fun, but thought provoking at the same time. While the band obviously don’t take themselves too seriously, it’s also obvious that they are trying to portray a positive, Biblically based message. There are no Stryper "Rock for the Rock" type lyrics here. Rather, the band chooses to use more symbolical narratives. "Altered States", for example, plays off the death theme and offers a biblical message about the death of the sinful flesh.

While I have never been a big fan of punk, I certainly have always appreciated certain bands. However, despite the punk label, Grave Robber have transcended that genre and created something that even a hard rock and metal fan like myself can enjoy.

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