Review: Deeper Graves ‘Pull Me Toward The Dark’
It was at the beginning of my writing career for The Sleeping Shaman when I was first exposed to the world of Jeff Wilson (Chrome Waves, Contrition, Liar In Wait, Altars of the Moon and Disorder Recordings boss). However, it was another project of his, Deeper Graves, which really captured both my heart and psyche.
If you discount last year’s cover of Him’s Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart (a band whose appeal has always mystified me), then it’s been a while since we heard from this effectively one-man band. This came in the form of 2022’s The Colossal Sleep, the very strong follow-up to what was 2020’s exceptional debut Open Roads. I should also recommend Deeper Graves covers collaboration with Lotus Thrones on tracks by Portishead and The Cure. Wilson in the record’s PR states that ‘While I had initially thought I’d retired this project from full-length endeavours, the timing and collection of songs for this album just kind of fell into my lap’, and I’m very much glad they did.
Misunderstood opens this third full-length release, Pull Me Toward The Dark, with grandiose orchestral sweeps and dreamy ambient goodness recalling the introduction to The Cure’s Plainsong. The only negative thing that can be said about the track is that it’s only just over a minute long as I’d have loved to see how it would have unfolded further. No Time For Love is pure Sisters of Mercy, albeit their subtler earlier work as opposed to the unashamed bombast of the 1987 Jim Steinman produced Floodland. It also recalled the sombre, resigned feel of Misery Loves Co’s Your Vision Was Never Mine to Share, an underrated record and band if ever there was one, superb.
Over My Shoulder, which premiered earlier this month, reportedly channels Type O Negative, and while there are elements of that band’s glacial-paced doom-laden goth rock, Deeper Graves mix things up more by injecting some wonderfully ethereal shoegaze, which helps to temper the gloominess into something altogether more inspiring and engaging.
demonstrates Wilson’s willingness to experiment and incorporate other elements into the band’s core sound…
All These Years seductive beats are not far removed from NIN’s early work, while the heavier down-tuned guitars bear similarities to Marilyn Manson, especially their cover of The Eurythmics Sweet Dreams. Despite not caring a jot for Manson, there is a mid to late ‘90s feel about the track, which gives it a nostalgic charm. Where Do We Go From Here was previewed back in January, and its tasty post-punk and deathrock darkness reminds one of Beastmilk and Grave Pleasures, with the vocals particularly sharing the ‘wounded’, emotive baritone of that group’s frontman Mat McNerney, a personal favourite.
The Truth is a slow builder with a pulsating electronic hum, which later incorporates crushingly heavy guitars to make for a truly immersive experience that threatens to overwhelm you sonically. This incidentally makes it one of the album’s less accessible numbers, especially as the emphasis appears to be on atmosphere rather than hooks. Not that I’m complaining, as it demonstrates Wilson’s willingness to experiment and incorporate other elements into the band’s core sound. An innovative gem.
At over six minutes, Pull Me Toward The Dark, is the album’s longest track, and its cold mechanical sparseness in the rhythm section nods to Peter Hook and Stephen Morris interplay and hence a definite Joy Division influence. This brings the album to a suitably unsettling conclusion.
The exquisite cover art would be for nought if it weren’t for the quality of the music, which again proves predictably high, and it’s as if Deeper Graves never left. Welcome back!
Label: Disorder Recordings
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Reza Mills
