Graveworm
Collateral Defect

December 2007
Released: 2007, Nuclear Blast Records
Rating: 2.5/5
Reviewer: Waspman

This is the first time coming across a Graveworm album for me. I had heard that this Italy-based band`s early albums were Cradle of Filth clones, so I decided to stay away (after all, one Cradle if enough). After listening to COLLATERAL DEFECT, that`s clearly not the case anymore. In fact, I`d say that this band is confused as hell. Seriously, over the course of the album, they throw pretty much everything at the wall to see what sticks. There`s traces of the Cradled ones, melo-death, old-school Swedish death, and metalcore for shit`s sake!



Unfortunately, just about everything they try falls flat. Actually, that`s not true. Minus the intro, the first songs (``Bloodwork``, ``Touch of Hate``, and ``Suicide Code``) are good mixtures of gothic metal and melodic death metal. After that though, the album just dies, especially when we get to metalcore abortion `Fragile Side`. What fucking nonsense. Honestly guys, what the fuck made you think that this was a good idea? Metalcore has long since past the point where it is a bankable feature. Plus, the song sucks ass!



The band does get a special mention for their so-bad-it`s-good idea to cover Bonnie Tyler`s ``I Need A Hero``. That`s a funny, inspired choice right there.



Sadly, based on this album, the `followers, not leaders` tag is going to stick to Graveworm like glue. There is nothing original here, and nothing that really makes the band stand out from the crowd. Aside from `Fragile Side`, nothing is actively bad, but being average is just no enough these days.