Photo by Orion Landau
“The album rules, and it’ll take you weeks to wash off the grit and grime that comes with listening to it (Nathan Misterek’s vocals alone make me want to shower in battery acid).” — Noisey
The Curse That Is, the newest studio recording from Portland doom/stoner quartet GRAVES AT SEA, unleashed via Relapse Records April 1st, pillaged the Billboard Charts upon its first week of release. The record debuted at #49 on the Top Vinyl Albums chart, #31 on the Current Hard Music chart, #86 on the Overall Hard Music, #81 on the Top Independent Albums chart, and #38 on the Top New Albums (Heatseekers) chart! Additionally, The Curse That Is ranked in at #27 on the Top Albums Chart at RED Distribution.
A true tour-de-force of incredible magnitude nearly fifteen years in the making, The Curse That Is is out now on Relapse. Physical orders are available at Relapse.com HERE. Digital orders can be found at the band’s BandCamp page HERE.
Engineered by Greg Wilkinson (Noothgrush, Brainoil) and mastered by Brad Boatright (Sleep, YOB), The Curse That Is effortlessly fuses colossal walls of feedback-laden sound with gargantuan riffs that crush and crawl with the weight of mountains. Hear The Curse That Is in its nihilistic entirety at THIS LOCATION.
In conjunction with the release of The Curse That Is, GRAVES AT SEA is currently crumbling stages on a two week-long US tour alongside Order Of The Owl which commenced yesterday in Atlanta, Georgia. See confirmed dates below.
GRAVES AT SEA w/ Order Of The Owl:
4/12/2016 Mothlight – Asheville, NC
4/13/2016 The Jinx 912 – Savannah, GA
4/14/2016 Strange Matter – Richmond, VA
4/15/2016 Metro Gallery – Baltimore, MD
4/16/2016 Kung Fu Necktie (Early Show) – Philadelphia, PA
4/17/2016 Saint Vitus Bar – Brooklyn, NY
4/18/2016 Middle East – Boston, MA
4/19/2016 Spirit – Pittsburgh, PA
4/20/2016 Ace Of Cups – Columbus, OH
4/21/2016 Sanctuary – Detroit, MI
4/22/2016 Mickey’s Tavern– Madison, WI
4/23/2016 Rock Island Brewing Company – Rock Island, IL
4/24/2016 Reggie’s Live – Chicago, IL
“Seriously though, these fucking riffs. Guitarist Nick Phit leads the charge with his gnarled doom grooves, but he has ample help from bassist Jeff McGarrity and drummer Bryan Sours…vocalist Nathan Misterek sounds delightfully unhinged throughout and his ‘self-loathing lyrics of torment and demise’ are, as always, the perfect complement to his pterodactyl-on-the-warpath style.” – Decibel
“An exhausting and lengthy work in nihilism…” – Consequence OF Sound
“GRAVES AT SEA‘s brand of dismal, bass-rich doom/sludge is played in such perfect concert, that when an instrument breaks away from the collective pummel, it’s a total thrill. The bass, guitars and drums here wind, groove, hammer,and plod together in perfect reciprocity, no one element any more vital or pronounced than the other.” – Cvlt Nation
“I don’t recall the last time I encountered heaviness this lumbering at the hands of just one guitar, one bass and one set of drums.” – Last Rites
“In a world of bands that wish they were EyeHateGod or Iron Monkey, GRAVES AT SEA are an often overlooked diamond among a sea of shit. They are miserable, plodding sludge, guaranteed to make you nod your head and reach for your favorite vice…” – Svbterranean
“With The Curse That Is, GRAVES AT SEA achieves that wall of rage sound… but manage to write solid songs in the process.” – PopShifter
“The Curse That Is illustrates perfectly the violence that extreme metal can project and will undeniably be appreciated and adored by anyone that’s predispose to endure such lyrical and sonic punishment.” – Music And Riots
“The nastiness they teased us with on previous releases has been filtered through a bigger production value for their debut full-length. The band still thunders into your ears, with some of the evil abrasion that coated their work now snarling at you like crystal-meth-infused stoner rock. Sometimes this even borders on the post-apocalyptic sludge of Through Silver In Blood-era Neurosis.” – No Clean Singing
“… sonic madness of the highest order.” – Metal Wani
For GRAVES AT SEA coverage in North America contact liz@earsplitcompound.com, in the UK contact pip@relapse.com, in the rest of Europe contact frank@pettingzoo.nl, and elsewhere contact bob@relapse.com.
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