I like it when the band members go on the tour van and suddenly they dedicate some time to answering interviews. That makes this exchange more genuine and creates a more metal atmosphere, so to speak. The Canadian guys from GRAVE INFESTATION released the second album entitled Carnage Gathers almost a month ago and wasted no time and went on a tour in Europe to promote it. But before going into details, let's see how the mood is and how is everything going with the band after the release of the album, Anju Singh, the drummer tells us the following about it: "...The band as a whole is feeling really happy with the direction of this record, which has moved closer to the full sound and production that the band wants. We are feeling like we are starting to really establish our sound and we are interested in continuing to develop this over the next album. The album is starting to better represent what Grave Infestation’s sound is and what we hope for when it comes to production. More raw, more disgusting, and this will continue into future records. We also feel like we have started to become clear on who and what we need to make the records we want moving forward too, so that’s a big accomplishment because there is something to look forward to..."
"... The response has been very positive, AS expands, and we are hearing from most people that this record is a step up for us. One of our close friends wrote to us saying that he felt that this record was the record and production that the band was always meant to have, and I'd definitely agree. It seems that people who were following us felt it was an improvement, and people who didn’t know about our band developed an interest in our previous releases because of this record. There were a few critical comments that we think are helpful for us to consider in future recordings, so we appreciated hearing those too. The reviews we have been receiving have been pretty well thought out and thorough, it’s impressive the effort people put into reviewing albums..."

GRAVE INFESTATION leans towards death metal sounds in a European way. However, what really caught my attention was the dirtiness and rawness of the sound. These elements are what make the band distinctive and very appealing. This second offering Carnage Gathers sounds much more superior in terms of tone and sound quality than the debut album Persecution of the Living from 2022. Carnage Gathers is definitely a step forward for the Canadians. The drummer AS, gives us more details about this second album and all the rotten mantle that covers it: "...GC has described recording with Greg Wilkinson as “working with an engineer who has death metal solutions to death metal problems”, and that basically encapsulates the studio experience. We went in to record a death metal record that best captured the sounds we wanted to achieve and we did that for sure, and we definitely had some heavy partying in there with our friend Fern loading us up with massive amounts of tequila, after which we partied with the dudes from Autopsy and then went back into the studio the next pretty hungover. The studio experience was definitely infused with our love for death metal. A cool part of the experience was also actually in the mixing phase which was not done in the studio but afterwards where our vocalist/co-lead guitarist GC worked closely with Greg through notes being passed back and forth to capture his ideas for vocal treatment, effects, and mix. The cool thing about doing this later after the studio time itself is that it gave us time to listen and reflect and then GC could really map out exactly how the different effects showed up and where for his vocals..."
"... GC writes all of our lyrics, AS explains. The lyrics for Carnage Gathers are about death. In this case, each song is a specific instance of murder or a story related to death or dying. The lyrics were focused on subjects maybe an 80’s metal band would write about. For example living inhumation is about falling asleep and being buried alive, black widow is about a woman grave robber who turns to murder to sell fresher cadavers to make money to feed her children. Anthropophagus is about a starving hermit who murdered and ate people to feed himself. Most lyrics are from true stories researched from recent history or from as far back as a couple hundred years ago, like some are kind of late medieval true crime. A few are from literature about war or horror..."

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I tell you that when I first clashed with the Canadian four-piece I thought it was a recently formed band. To my surprise they had been busy since 2018 releasing demos and singles, and that is why the music in Carnage Gathers is better thought out and arranged. It is always good to know the circumstances that surrounded the beginning of everything, AS refers as follows: "...Graham Christofferson (guitars and vocals), Anju Singh (drummer), and Thomas Szuk (bass) were all playing in another band together but it was more so GC and AS’s band, so we all decided to start a new band that we all contributed to as writers. We have a lot of influence from Swedish/Finnish death metal demos, but we are all big fans of Autopsy, Repulsion, Nihilist, Abhorrence, Rippikoulu, Demigod, and also Death, Asphyx, etc etc. Bands that had a specific sound that was about maintaining a raw sound, production and energy. GC in previous interviews has always said that when we started the band, we just wanted to sound like Swedish/Finnish death metal demos. So perhaps demos are what really inspired the sound of the band. We are all good friends, and GC, AS, TS all played in bands together before Grave Infestation started. BC was our good friend who we hung out with quite a bit and we wanted a second lead guitarist so he was a clear and obvious fit. We all definitely party and crack stupid jokes and get along well, it’s an important part of being in a band. Underground metal has the ability to express the visceral, which is something we are interested in. There are some genres in metal that are more focused on intricacy and technical aspects of what metal can offer, but for us, the most basic and heavy and disgusting sounds are a focus..."

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I had a brother who lived in Vancouver for three years, and I was very close to going to visit him and get to know more about this beautiful city. GRAVE INFESTATION are natives of this city and I am very moved by the desire to ask AS how the scene was up there and what they would recommend us in terms of places that we cannot miss if we ever visit Vancouver: "...Absolutely, in our region and then also across Canada, underground metal bands are pretty supportive of each other. For example, we are on tour right now with our friends from Quebec City SEDIMENTUM, and they have been very supportive of our band, and we know lots of other bands from their area as well including OUTRE TOMBE. It would be really tough for us to name Canadian bands to look out for because we’d definitely miss someone doing really cool stuff, but we can confidently say that most underground Canadian metal bands are crushing it right now. Any bands to look up to from Canada, I mean of course the classics, Blasphemy, Voivod, Cryptopsy, especially their None So Vile era, etc etc.. Again, so many we can’t capture them all here. In Vancouver you can find old growth forests with trees up to 1000 years old which you can find in the city and also a short drive from the city as well..."

I'm sure the death metal four-piece will be busy promoting the second album that shouldn't be overlooked because there's quality in what these musicians deliver. This is the wonderful thing about being in contact with everything new that comes out in the metal music arena, there are always bands that are not so well known but surprise you and it is very pleasant to go deep into their journey. Scriptorium magazine Readers, this is another band to check out. We thank you for reading us and AS for responding to our call. Let's be informed of what they are into right now and what will be the plans for the near future: "... At this very exact moment, we are in the van driving from Slovakia to Croatia to perform at Zagreb Death Fest tonight, we are on a 16 date European tour with SEDIMENTUM that started in Berlin on March 7th and ends on March 22nd. Following this European tour, we will be playing gigs in Seattle, Toronto and Montreal. Other than playing these gigs and some festivals and booking more tours, we are starting to get into writing mode to write and record some tracks and our next LP. We just want to play death metal in cool places with metal maniacs and with other bands that are doing killer death metal projects. Stay committed to Underground Death Metal and help spread this Infestation of Rotting Death. graveinfestation@gmail.com ..."