{"id":24263,"date":"2012-12-03T07:11:33","date_gmt":"2012-12-03T12:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=24263"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:46:35","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:46:35","slug":"graveyard-lights-out-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/graveyard-lights-out-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Graveyard | Lights Out<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– News Editor\/ Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Graveyard\"Swedish retro hard rock band Graveyard didn\u2019t waste any time getting their third album out. Lights Out<\/em> is the band\u2019s second release in two years and second release since signing to Nuclear Blast. Graveyard\u2019s 2011 album Hisingen Blues<\/em> was a major breakout, and their tours were very successful, so perhaps this is just a case of striking while the iron is hot. Whatever the case, Lights Out<\/em> is a highly anticipated album not only for Graveyard\u2019s fans, but for just about anyone enjoying the recent revival of the old school heavy rock sound.<\/p>\n

Behind a cover that looks like a pessimist\u2019s take on Uriah Heep\u2019s classic Look at Yourself<\/em> cover, Lights Out<\/em> finds Graveyard picking up more or less where they left off with Hisingen Blues<\/em>. Graveyard still worships at the altar of the almighty riff, and they still sound like refugees from 1970. Across three albums now the band has channeled the vintage sound of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and to a lesser extent Cream and Atomic Rooster. Lights Out<\/em> feels darker overall though, and not just the cover artwork. The lyrics seem more cynical, the riffs are heavier and the overall tone tilts more towards Sabbath than Zeppelin this time around. The album swings from up-tempo rockers like \u201cSeven Seven\u201d and \u201cGoliath\u201d to slower, more somber numbers like \u201cSlow Motion Countdown\u201d and \u201cHard Times Lovin\u2019\u201d with ease, maintaining the same spooky, fuzzed-out vibe throughout.<\/p>\n

Joakim Nilsson\u2019s unique vocals continue to be a highlight of Graveyard\u2019s sound, as do his and Jonatan La Rocca Ramm\u2019s guitar work. Paired with the steady rhythms of Axel Sjoberg and Rikard Edlund, and some well placed guest musicians on Hammond, piano, mellotron, saxophone and Norwegian fiddle and the whole thing comes together brilliantly.<\/p>\n

Oddly enough (given the two bands\u2019 shared roots), Graveyard finds itself competing with Witchcraft for the year\u2019s best retro rock\/metal release, and while Lights Out<\/em> is a totally satisfying album all-around, it probably doesn\u2019t have quite the same impact as Witchcraft\u2019s Legend. It\u2019s a hell of an album though; make no mistake about that, and one that fans of the heavy rock-stoner-metal revival will not want to miss. And if any album released this year was meant to be heard on vinyl, it\u2019s Lights Out.<\/p>\n

PS \u2013 Graveyard is touring North America in early 2013 (though not with Witchcraft as a lot of fans had hoped). Check them out if you have the chance.<\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nJoakim Nilsson (g) (v)
\nJonatan La Rocca Ramm (g) (v)
\nAxel Sjoberg (d)
\nRikard Edlund (b)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tAn Industry of Murder
\n2.\tSlow Motion Countdown
\n3.\tSeven Seven
\n4.\tThe Suits, the Law & the Uniforms
\n5.\tEndless Night
\n6.\tHard Times Lovin\u2019
\n7.\tGoliath
\n8.\tFool In the End
\n9.\t20\/20 (Tunnel Vision)<\/p>\n

Label: Nuclear Blast<\/p>\n

Website: www.graveyardmusic.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.75\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – News Editor\/ Senior Columnist — Swedish retro hard rock band Graveyard didn\u2019t waste any time getting their third album out. Lights Out is the band\u2019s second release in two years and […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[336,6469,1103,339,334],"class_list":{"0":"post-24263","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-cd","8":"tag-graveyard","9":"tag-hard-rock","10":"tag-nuclear-blast","11":"tag-review"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}