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Grave Next Door - Sanctified Heathen - Reviewed By POWERMETAL! Wednesday April 5 2023, 10:31 PM

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Grave Next Door - Sanctified Heathen - Reviewed By POWERMETAL ! Check it out here at this link: https://www.powermetal.de/review/review-Grave_Next_Door/Sanctified_Heathen,40071.html

Rumbled and unfinished stoner rock demo.

The band GRAVE NEXT DOOR, which comes up with a very imaginative band name, comes from the US state of Michigan and has existed in its current line-up for several years. Nevertheless, with "Sanctified Heathen" the debut of the two brothers Patrick (drums) and Anthony Salerno (guitar, vocals) and bassist Brendan Reeder is just about ready to take the underground scene by storm. The record is actually not entirely new, as it was originally released to the public in 2022 and is currently undergoing a worldwide re-release via Black Doomba Records.

The only question is what prompted the label to take this step, because instead of a storm, in the case of GRAVE NEXT DOOR it's more of a gentle breeze whistling through the underground. Sure, the trio from Grand Rapids has definitely done their homework when it comes to stoner rock and cheerfully quotes genre heroes like KYUSS or related colleagues like avant-garde grungers MELVINS in their music, but technically "Sanctified Heathen" is quite a disaster. Well, maybe that's a bit too harsh a statement, but in very few moments does the debut sound like an album that was ready for release. Instead you get lukewarm rehearsal room demos, only some of which have been given a few overdubs in the studio. The drum kit in particular sounds terribly muffled and the guitars mostly waft away somewhere in the background, while the vocals were mostly recorded in decent quality. This, in turn, seems strange, as they stand out from the rumbling sound of the rest of the instrumentation in a downright unpleasant way. This circumstance also allows me to conclude that lo-fi production was not intentionally used here, but that savings were simply made at the wrong end in the recordings.

Since, in addition to the recording quality, the mix also sounds very unfinished and lacks any pressure, there is only very rarely any real listening pleasure in the course of the nine tracks. Much more I have to admit that I had really heard more than enough GRAVE NEXT DOOR after one listen of the disc. It's a pity in particular, because behind all the technical problems one hears a band that certainly isn't reinventing the wheel, but definitely has a few interesting ideas up its sleeve. Listen to 'As Heavy As Texas', for example, which could easily be a small stoner hit if properly recorded. By the way, it is characteristic of the disc's quality at the very end when the live recording of 'Bloody Nuns' as a bonus track sounds rounder than the entire series of studio recordings.

But that can't save the Americans' debut, because overall "Sanctified Heathen" would only be okay if we were dealing with a tape that a local band had slipped me as a demo at the end of the nineties. For a label release, however, "Sanctified Heathen" is abysmal, which makes the reissue after just one year through Black Doomba Records really questionable. - POWERMETAL

Release Date: Feb 3, 2023

FFO: Weedeater, Melvins, Kyuss

Location: Grand Rapids Michigan

Short Bio: Shaped by decades of persistence in the face of adversity, Michigan stoner metal outfit Grave Next Door is poised to take on the national underground music scene. Formed by brothers Patrick (drums) and Anthony Salerno (guitar/vocals), and with Brendan Reeder on bass! Originally released March 18, 2022, the band re-released their debut album Sanctified Heathen on Feb 3rd 2023 via Black Doomba Records. It is now available on all formats at this link https://gravenextdoor2.bandcamp.com/album/sanctified-heathen