Our favorite Swedes’ sixth album of smoky garage noir reaches subtle new heights.
Once upon a time, in 1995, a band called Norrsken formed in Örebro, Sweden. Their blend of proto-metal, hard rock and psychedelic doom would not catch on until five years later, and the two demos they recorded showed they were still in formative stage. After breaking up, two songs appeared on tribute albums for Trouble and Blue Cheer. Guitarist Magnus Pelander went on to form Witchcraft, drummer Kristoffer Sjödahl took on guitar and vocal duties in the underrated Dead Man, and vocalist Joakim Nilsson and Rikard Edlund formed Albatros with drummer Axel Sjöberg. They released only a 2005 demo before changing their name to Graveyard. By the time they released the self-titled debut in October 2007, Nilsson and Edlund had over a dozen years experience under their belts, and they were fully developed. By the time I saw them play the House of Blues in Chicago, they were one of my new favorite bands. They only got better, with Hisingen Blues (2011) and Lights Out (2012). Ecklund left in 2014, and Truls Mörck, who left after the first album, was back and doubled up on bass and guitar duties, as well as songwriting and vocal duties. At the time, I was slightly disappointed that they didn’t keep up the hooky rock action of that last album on Innocence & Decadence (2015) and Peace (2018), but in the long silence of the past five years, I’ve returned to them more and more often. I obsessively followed their social media, as they teased us with a picture of a recording console in March 2022. Then nothing for well over a year. I was worried the band broke up, like many of my other favorites. At that point I didn’t care of the band decided to do Polkas, I was dying for new Graveyard tunes.
Like riding through the desert in a luxury 1970s Cadillac Hearse with plush velvet interior, and a thoroughly modern, 500 horsepower V8 engine under the hood
Finally, here it is, and I am chuffed. Like riding through the desert in a luxury 1970s Cadillac Hearse with plush velvet interior, and a thoroughly modern, 500 horsepower V8 engine under the hood, Graveyard purrs in cruise mode, but still has takeoff when the pedal is pushed on tracks like the garage raver “Twice” and “Just a Drop,” which starts at a simmer before boiling over into muscular riffage like Graveyard’s early days. “I Follow” you starts with twangy Western noir guitars before upping the tempo into a chugging rhythm and rhythmic breaks that suggest this desert ride isn’t going to be all smooth. The highlight that’s stood out to me on my first half dozen listens is “Breathe In Breathe Out,” which begins with Nilsson’s voice turned extra husky like a cross between Free era Paul Rodgers and Mark Lanegan, backed by soul vocals. The brooding intro soon opens up into a repetitive rhythm guitar, organ and an extended sad and lonesome guitar solo that recalls The Doors’ “Light My Fire.” “No Way Out” features some soulful, higher register singing from Nilsson that recalls Chris Cornell, and it’s extended crescendo invokes Soundgarden at their best.
The four mellow tracks keep the tempos slow and low, a lightly psychedelic mix of garage noir and a touch of lush mid-70s Pink Floyd production. All are stellar, with “Godnatt” serving as a moody intro, “Sad Song” is another strong, emotional contribution from Truls Mörck, closer “Rampant Fields” and another album highlight, “Bright Lights.”
Like all their albums, 6 was recorded direct to tape. One problem that sometimes bothered me from the first few albums is that was everything was in the red, where you could hear the snare vibrate from the bass tones, adding a bit too much distortion contributes to fatigue when listening too long. This has improved over the past few albums, resulting in Graveyard’s sixth album being their best sounding one yet, and one of three current contenders for album of the year.
The Six Album Run Club
Congratulations to Graveyard for making it to a complete six album run of great albums, putting them in the stellar company of Elder, Radiohead, Ufomammut, Queens of the Stone Age and Baroness.
