5 Star Grave
Drugstore Hell

What doesn’t kill you only makes you more annoying, it probably does if your name is something italian and you play an instrument in an italian sextet called 5 Star Grave. Why the digit five and not five in regular writing? I guess they look to be early in the lists, tough luck as we use the same system as the iPod and place bands starting with a number last. It is also said in the press info that they are six pricks from hell, and that their music will surely piss the defenders of political correctness off. I think a reality check is needed here, music does not really have that effect anymore and no one will probably care what they say in their lyrics which seem very centred around death, at least from the bits and pieces of lyrics that I actually heard, or recalled. Drugstore Hell is the name of the album these guys just unleashed to the world, it is their second one following the 2008 release Corpse Breed Syndrome. If the cover artwork is any indication I would say that this album is quite silly.

Massacre says that it is modern metal, nothing about silly so I might be wrong. If you have heard Wednesday 13 I don’t think you need much more of a description than that, like that but a bit more upbeat. But for you who have no clue what I mean with that weekday and number I can describe the music as something quite heavy, very catchy with extremely catchy choruses and prominent keyboard lines grabbing your attention. The vocals are something near to what death metallers like Children of Bodom do, or Wednesday 13. The variation over the eleven tracks is alright, there are some features making it feel as it gets somewhere, like female vocals in the track Daddy to name one. The album is also rather short for an album of today’s musical world with its 40 minutes of playing time. Production is good and the album feels quite inoffensive all in all, appropriate even for little children I suppose.

I didn’t like this at all at first, it felt quite dreary and dull to be honest. However, it has grown on me and now I find this album rather good. Sure it is not amongst the best I have ever heard but it is fun to listen to with its catchiness and great keyboard stuff. At its best moments this album is great but overall it is good, the opening track sets a good tone for the album where the keyboards that is a feature in the music of these gravelings is being introduced. Then I think the track called Daddy deserves mentioning as it has a wonderful keyboard part and a wonderfully catchy chorus that would make any person happy, I really like that track. I also think that the ending track Lemmings is worthy of a mention as it is too really good, so there are three tracks that stand out a bit but at the same time there is no real weakness of the album so for anyone enjoying the similar bands I am sure this will be a treat.

A decently enjoyable album with some massive catchiness and very good music, I think that if you feel drawn towards what is called horror metal or lighter forms of melodic death metal you should take a closer look. It is a good album, of that there is no doubt, silly but good.