Vulture - Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves

"We titled our second album "Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves" because it's catchy, cold and metal as fuck," Vulture guitarist Stefan Genozider declares succinctly. Horror is a key element to the record, with classic horror movies and stories in the vein of maestros John Carpenter and Dario Argento strongly influencing the lyrics, with other influences drawn from the classic Bay Area Thrash era. When it came to tracking, Vulture once again joined forces with close friend and producer Marco Brinkmann (Casket, Cross Vault) at Hellforge Studio in Detmold, Germany. Working to a tight schedule so that they could make the limited window available to them with their desired producer, the quintet focused on creating eight killer cuts. Songs like "Stainless Glare" are particularly overpowering, wielding a dangerous edge building up a lot of tension over the course of countless riffs and then unfolding in a huge melodic part, while "The Garrotte" explodes in a big singalong chorus, and across the board there's levels of drama and excitement previously untapped. The sound of "Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves" has also been augmented by playing in some unconventional keys and the addition of "horror synths", but every change is well balanced and suited to the individual songs.