When misery creeps in like wispy tendrils of dead mist it's all too easy to wallow in despair and wrap yourself in introspection. The stronger amongst us may well dwell upon why they wander through the dark but ultimately they break out of their self-absorption, using anger as the hammer to smash through the fragile emotions.

“Il Male Di Vivere” often finds itself weaving a web of bleak strands picked from a tapestry of negativity, perversely the result is as strong as steel rope, which is just as well because when COMMON GRAVE punch free of their cocoon of contemplation, they need anchoring against the surge of cathartic rage that breaks against these shattered shores. So, delicacy mixes with might, sanguine rivulets of lead guitar meander around the rich tones of bass that stand proud amongst the vivid, deliberate picking that despite projecting an air of fragility, refuses to give. Often these refrains falter against some obstacle but gravity in both senses maintains that progress is made and so inexorably these streams of sorrow find and fall into the torrent.

Ah, the rolling white-waters of emotion that thunder through constriction, clearing away debris and threatening to drown those who cannot ride the flow, COMMON GRAVE gush like the river wild, tumbling boulders and ultimately cleansing. They effortlessly pick up pace and so pummelling drums power the aggression evinced by the shear of guitar that top slices atop the deep rumble of the bass, the analogy to nature rings true, elemental forces are at work here. Inevitably though, the violence subsides as the gradient provides for calmer but no less treacherous waters, this pattern repeats itself over and again, though a range in intensity rules out repetition. Some tracks, like “No Turning Back,” maintain the same motif virtually throughout, in this case a slow picked melody simple in its portrayal of distress, it rises to nothing more than a low peak with only the drums providing any (brief) vigour.

The majority of songs on the album make the most of their length, there are no plateaus, lush meadows run into granite escarpment and the vista is revealed in sharp focus, thanks to the clarity of the production. “Il Male Di Vivre” benefits from depth, it verges on the sumptuous such is the richness of tone, all of which heightens the melancholy that is further highlighted by the wretched vocals that leech their gruff anguish tinged with defiance. The undercurrents of this album take you places you may not wish to go, though on the strength of the overt melodies, most will be willing. Austere though the soundscape is, it certainly isn't barren, twisted, thorned shoots spread like brambles forming a thicket verdant enough to attract and barbed enough to ensnare, once inside your head, these songs aren't going anywhere.

COMMON GRAVE have formulated something of a minor masterpiece here, the brush strokes may have been slashed across the canvas, but the bristles were thrust in deep into the pot, the thickness of the paint allowing for finer filigrees to form around the main body. A sight to behold in black and red.

(Online April 17, 2008)