grave

Lyric Video: Grave - "Venial Sin"

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Add this to the pile of songs that didn’t need a lyric video. Grave‘s “Venial Sin” lyric video, just released, hardly seems worth the effort. First of all, you can understand pretty much everything guitarist/vocalist Ola Lindgren says, at least all that you need to understand. And seeing lyrics on screen like “Confide in me my friend / I will wipe your conscious clear / Your robe is as red as the blood on your hands / Yet clean as the virgin white” just makes it seem silly.

Still, the five minute track is good. It’s got all the swirling, nausea inducing guitar riffs and sickening breakdowns that Swedish death metal requires–which is partly thanks to the guest solos by Autopsy’s Eric Cutler.

But what is a “venial” sin? What does it all mean? Venial sins are trifling, minor indulgences that are forgivable. The kind we all engage in on a daily basis. The word comes from the Latin word veni, meaning a grace or favor. It essentially means to treat something with reverence. But, if you pretend that it comes from the Latin vena, “blood vessel,” it puts the concept of “venial sin” into a whole new light, one that I prefer. Maybe death metal doesn’t have to make sense, but I still don’t want it to be dumb.

“Venial Sin” is on the band’s new five-song EP, Morbid Ascent, which will be released as a limited 12-inch MLP (mini LP, meaning it’s shorter than a full-length but longer than a traditional EP, methinks), with full-color, 180-gram vinyl and full-color inlay, as well as digital download. Download is available August 26. You might have to go to the merch stands at German festivals in order to get the vinyl version, which is available in 100 copies of dark green, 200 copies of transparent orange, and 700 copies of your basic black.

Morbid Ascent includes a cover version of Satyricon’s “Possessed” and a remix version of “Epos” from Grave’s 2012 release (their 10th!) Endless Procession of Souls. The band has revisited their 1989 demo Sexual Mutilation for a new version of the track “Reality Of Life”. “Venial Sin” is the opener, which I will forever reimagine as a terrible, unforgivable sin involving other people’s blood vessels.

Vanessa Salvia

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Track listing (digital download):
1. Venial Sin

2. Morbid Ascent

3. Possessed

4. Epos 

5. Reality Of Life

Track listing (vinyl):
Side 1:
1. Venial Sin

2. Morbid Ascent
Side 2:
1. Possessed 

2. Epos

3. Reality Of Life