Victor Griffin’s In-Graved – In-Graved

1. Digital Critic
2. What If…
3. Late For An Early Grave
4. Fading Flower
5. Thorn In The Flesh
6. Teacher
7. Love Song For The Dying
8. Never Surrender
“As a long time fan of American doom pioneers Pentagram, I’ve been an admirer of Victor Griffin’s playing and his bluesy, but street-tough style. Sure, he borrowed a lot of his sound from Tony Iommi, but he made it his own by mixing it with the sound of Cream-era Clapton and a touch of Hendrix. When he left Pentagram, their stock dropped precipitously, and when he returned for their “Last Rites” opus, everything was right in the doom world again. I enjoyed most of the material from his Place of Skulls outing, so when I heard of the new Victor Griffin’s project I expected solid results, which this delivered, along with a few surprises.”
“You see, instead of simply cranking out more American doom, Victor chose to revisit the style of his little known 2004 solo album “Late For An Early Grave” where he tried to merge his doom style with outlaw biker rock (most of those songs were written way back in the 80s). In the process he’s found a sonic sweet spot and sounds like a pleasant mash-up of Pentagram, Trouble, Wino’s solo work, Black Label Society, Fireball Ministry and 70s bluesy hard rock. That means plenty of the trademark Griffin riffing infused with healthy doses of biker rock and The Doors to give it added swagger and badassery. While it’s not a doom metal album in the traditional sense, it’s an endearing and addictive hard rock platter close enough to modern-day Pentagram to satisfy most doom fans, and the 70s hard rock influences feel more organic and authentic than on all those “’70s occult rock” albums.”
“Every song works and the album has a nice flow. It gets better as it goes on and there’s a startlingly sincere and authentic feeling to the material that defies easy description. For lack of a better word, it feels real, and that in turn feels refreshing. Aside from Victor’s fine playing, he surprises with the conviction in his vocals on tracks like “Late For An Early Grave”, “Fading Flower” and “Love Song For The Dying”. His soulful, but edgy croon works for many of the same reasons Wino’s always has and Victor manages to channel that same gruff charm along with some of Zakk Wylde’s hoarse roars. To flesh out the band, Victor chose wisely with Guy Pinhas (The Obsessed, Acid King) on bass and Peter Campbell (Place Of Skulls, 60 Watt Shaman) on drums and together they create a solid foundation on which Victor builds some great songs. Putting the finishing touch on the product are the tasteful and understated organ runs by Olson, which add the perfect 70s flavor to the riff-driven compositions.”
All That Is Heavy, Steel Druhm
LP album (Green)
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