New crime for Gravekvlt.
Formed in 2021, the Nantes-based band had already illustrated their “Evil Speed Metal Punk” with two releases. In 2024, Intoxicator (bass/vocals), RiffThrower (guitar), Sturnüs (guitar) and RedHammer (drums) unveiled Full Moon Fever, their second album, on Frozen Records.
The album opens with Blood Invokation, a sample that sounds like something out of a vintage horror film, but the ominous keyboards quickly give way to aggression on Full Moon Fever, the eponymous track with its searing riffs. The band lets us catch our breath with a short break, but the jerky rhythm soon resumes in the company of Intoxicator‘s morbid screams, which will also haunt Skvllkrvsher (of Death and Steel), whose atmosphere is slightly brighter than on the previous track. A few airy leads slip into the energetic mix with its catchy Black’n’Roll roots, while Dungeon Punks leans more towards the last-mentioned style to provide a motivating basis for its dissonance. Anguish resurfaces on Last Skeletons’ Dance, creating a sinister yet accessible melody, in stark contrast to Frozen Grave, which returns to a rawer violence, but still tinged by that mysterious veil. A scream of anguish is heard during the break, reinforcing this attraction to the horrific universe, but the band speed off again towards Midnight Blasphemy, where Old School sounds are brought to the fore, implying savagery at all costs. A new moment of respite comes with Fangs of the Night, introduced by macabre keyboards before the rhythm hits the spot in the company of worked harmonics that act even on the aerial passages, including an unexpected clean vocal, but the energy soon returns with Hexanguination (Anaemic Dreams and Silver Blades), where the heavy Black Metal influences are by far the most present. Having already seen him in action, the track is perfect for encouraging the pit to mosher, even during the crystalline solo, and is followed by Lugubrious Realm of the Eternal Night, the final track that combines the vindictiveness of the previous one with the more soaring ambience set by the various effects and husky vocals.
Gravekvlt‘s secret lies in its ability to combine a frightening atmosphere borrowed from Horror cinema with an energetic Old School basis. Full Moon Fever is the perfect compromise between a zombie movie and Black’n’Roll!
85/100
A few questions to the band Gravekvlt on the occasion of the release of their new album, Full Moon Fever. All answers correspond to the band as a whole, except where special mention is made of certain questions.
Hello and thank you for your time! Without using the usual Metal labels, such as “Black Metal”, “Black ‘n’ Roll” or “Evil Speed Metal Punk”, how would you describe the band Gravekvlt?
Gravekvlt: Doing something new with something old: we mix a lot of things we like in Speed, Old School Death, Black and also Punk and Post-Punk, in short very 80s influences but digested and regurgitated to make a project, we hope, that’s not backward-looking either.
How do you personally relate the name Gravekvlt to the band’s music?
Gravekvlt: “Grave” for the graveyard/ghost train imagery, and “kvlt” because it’s a bit more than a band to us. The image of an impenetrable quasi-sect worked well for Blue Öyster Cult, so why not?
Full Moon Fever, your second album, is about to be released. How do you feel about it? Have you had any feedback on it yet?
Gravekvlt: We can’t wait! Some of the tracks have been played live for over a year, so we’re really starting to feel like sharing them. And we’re really happy with the result, which is much closer to our live sound than the first one, and doesn’t sound redundant.
How would you sum up Full Moon Fever in three words?
Gravekvlt: Vampire, Speed, Ough.
Full Moon Fever comes out just over a year after its predecessor, Gravekvlt. How did you go about composing it? Did you notice any changes in the creative process?
Gravekvlt: The first album was composed and recorded when the project was a duo (Val and P.A.), then the 4-piece line-up was formed. Even if the bulk of the composition is still done by these 2 (especially Val on the last album), now that we know a little more where we can and want to go, and we’re used to playing together, the process is inevitably different. Just the fact of being able to test ideas as a full band means we can see more clearly what works and what doesn’t, so we can develop certain parts or bring in other ideas. Our 2 guitarists have quite different ways of playing, and our drummer has a more direct and gruff style of playing than what we can compose with a drum machine on the demos… in short, we work a little more collectively.
The album’s atmosphere is rooted in a horrific universe, what are your favorite horror movies?
Val (bass/vocals): I’m very influenced by horror films from the 80s or inspired by them, and horror films inspired by British folklore. If I had to make a top 5 list of my favorite horror films, I’d say Mandy, The Thing, Evil Dead, The Wickerman and The Silence of the Lambs (with a special mention for Na Hong Ji‘s The Strangers, which has one of the best horror endings in my opinion).
Alexis (guitar): I’m not much of a film buff, but as far as I know, my favorites are all references in the style: Alien (for the universe and the settings, teeming with detail, and for the quasi-documentary approach to the way companies behave towards their employees if we let them…), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (for the natural light that creates such a real, suffocating atmosphere), The Thing, Halloween… (Obviously the Carpenter ones, with their top-notch direction and soundtrack).
Mathieu (drums): Personally, I don’t really have any favorite horror films. I’m not particularly looking for a feeling of fear, unease or stress in front of a film. But I do like the overall aesthetic, sometimes a lot, as well as chicks and absurd or impressive things. So if I take the question in a very broad sense: The Thing, Evil Dead (1, 2 or 3, because they’re just so cool), The Devil’s Rejects, One Cut of the Dead, The Night of the Hunter, Nosferatu…
P.A. (guitar): I’m not going for the original, but I’d say The Thing, Alien, Evil Dead (the original trilogy) for the “intangible evil you can’t do anything about” aspect. Otherwise, classic slashers like Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre… Nothing very original, but we’re not here to be clever.
Horror aside, your music is a wild mix of Punk and Thrash coupled with dark Black’n’Roll. Which bands could you cite as having influenced your sound?
Gravekvlt: Venom, Motorhead, Devil Master, Midnight, Toxic Holocaust… and small touches of Old School Death Metal like Entombed or more primitive Punk like Misfits or Discharge. And The Cure for some of the guitar sounds! In short, Gravekvlt is a Rock’n’Roll band from beyond the grave, with a wide range of influences.
What were your guidelines for the artwork? How did the collaboration with the artist go?
Gravekvlt: Our illustrator (@scandinavianjawbreaka on the networks) is a very good friend of ours, so the collaboration was pretty easy. Since we’re fans of his style, which is rich in detail and fits in perfectly with our music, we basically give him the general idea (what elements should appear, what mood) and then let him work his magic. For the cover, we really wanted a duality between the fantasy of the castle and the menacing presence in the sky, and a much more realistic urban environment, closer to our everyday city life and some of our influences.
I know it’s a tough question, but do you have a favorite track on this album? Or the one that seemed the most natural to compose?
Gravekvlt: It’s a bit like choosing your favorite child, but here goes:
Val (bass/vocals): That’s a tough one. I’d say Fangs of The Night or Hexanguination. They’re very opposite from each other and the composition process was different, I wrote the first with Alexis and the second on my own.
Alexis (guitar): Last Skeletons Dance because the world desperately needs more surf music! Otherwise Dungeon Punks because we all wrote it together pretty quickly, as a matter of course.
Mathieu (drums): If you really have to pick one track, I find Hexanguination particularly effective, and super satisfying to play.
P.A. (guitar): Personally, I’d say Full Moon Fever, because it’s the one that, in my eyes, condenses our influences the most, and strikes the right balance between speed and darkness.
Full Moon Fever is released on Frozen Records, how is the collaboration going?
Gravekvlt: Once again, they’ve been friends for a long time, so it was pretty easy, especially as we all live in the same town. Their operating principle is simple: if they don’t like the album, they don’t release it. So we made the album on our own, let them listen to it, and then went back together to release it.
I’ve already had the chance to see you in action several times on stage, both in clubs and at festivals. How do you personally experience a Gravekvlt live show? Do you prefer club or festival shows?
Gravekvlt: Again, it’s pretty straightforward: go for it! We like both: obviously at a festival there are more people, the stage is bigger and the technical comfort is appreciable (shout out to the technicians who always do an incredible job). But the distance from the audience is inevitably greater, and a date in a small club or crowded bar has a very different charm, the connection with people is much more intense. We like to move from one to the other, so we don’t get locked into a kind of concert routine. Gravekvlt is first and foremost a live band, and as long as we can play, we’re happy!
What are Gravekvlt‘s next projects?
Gravekvlt: To tour as much as possible to support the release of the album in the first instance. And then we’ll see, why not a shorter format for the next release, to explore other directions… nothing’s fixed yet, we’ll let the natural flow guide us. In any case, we’re going to keep having the same fun, and that’s the main thing.
Are there any musicians or artists you’d like to collaborate with in the future?
Gravekvlt: Collaboration should be a natural process, we don’t want to force a collab just to have a well-known name (or not) in a track title. But we’re lucky enough to be surrounded by talented people in many fields, so if one day an idea for collaboration jumps out at us we won’t hesitate.
Do you think you’ve improved as musicians with this album?
Val (bass/vocals): Completely and in every way. It helped me improve a lot in terms of composition and technique (especially vocals!).
Alexis (guitar): As I always say, we’re rockers, not musicians, so it’s a lot easier! But yes, it’s forced me to get out of my comfort zone and play a few leads, so without really talking about technicality I’m just more at ease with my instrument (and given the music we make, the main thing is to look confident!).
Mathieu (drums): A bit like Alexis, but he says it better, I feel more like a rock player than a musician. On the other hand, it’s obvious that being in Gravekvlt has helped me enormously in my drumming (even if I’ve still got a lot of work to do), and this album even more than the first. Friends I’ve been playing with for years have told me so. And the pleasure I get from playing just keeps growing!
P.A. (guitar): It’s true that with the composition of this album, and above all the experience I’ve gained on stage, I think I’m a better rocker, and that I’ve become more confident in composing, so that I can get away from structures that are too fixed, and try out more things with riffs and moods. The lyrics, too, have progressed a lot since the first album, although they’re not great poetry either.
What bands do you dream of playing with? I’ll let you imagine your dream date for the release of Full Moon Fever, with Gravekvlt opening, and three other bands.
Gravekvlt: We’ve got a release party planned in Nantes for Halloween with Sordide and Hexecutor, so we can’t wait! But putting that aside, it looks like :
Val (bass/vocals): I’m going to cheat and take a band that no longer exists. I’d put on Nohz, Repugnant and Misfits!
Alexis (guitar): Arno de Cea, Bombardement, Repulsion.
Mathieu (drums): I don’t really have an idea. I’m just really excited to be playing with Sordide and Hexecutor for the album release.
P.A. (guitar): In the real world: Nohz, Faucheuse, Meurtrières. In a world where anything goes: Misfits, Voivod and Celtic Frost.
Last question: what dish would you compare Gravekvlt‘s music to?
Gravekvlt: Lasagnas: it’s generous, fatty and dripping, but you can put whatever you want in it and it’s still really good!
That was my last question, so thank you for your availability, and I’ll leave you with the last words!
Gravekvlt: Macron resign. And thanks to you and all the readers.