Shallow Water Grave play a brand of metal that is influenced both by Slayer and Helloween. To say that the opening salvo of “Lay In Wait” is confusing is to hit the nail on the head. There are just so many things that are happening during this first track that individuals just do not know where to go or what to listen to. Luckily, this confusion is much less during Shallow Water Grave’s second track on this disc “The Darker Side of the Truth”.
The much more cohesive sound of “Darker Side” mixes the nu-metal that was big during the late nineties with more classic metal (when I say more classic metal, I’m saying that Shallow Water Grave go all the way back to Queen while still hitting Queensryche and Metallica along the way). The guitar work on that track also touches on the itechnical metal of a number of hardcore bands in this day and age. Throwing in an extended instrumental breakdown during this track is another smart move done by the band, as listeners can hear the band’s talent in many varied ways. Even though Shallow Water Grave has a number of tracks on this album that have normal runtimes, individuals feel as if they are taken on an extended journey by Shallow Water Grave that make a 3 minute track feel almost as if the band has drug them along for 9 minutes.
It’s a good thing, people. It is weird to hear one of these bands that cover so many styles sound so much like themselves on this album; Shallow Water Grave’s tracks are easily told as SWG’s and only SWG’s. “Persist and Persevere” is the one track on “Suspension of Disbelief” where Shallow Water Grave seem to further their sound the most on the disc. The guitar lines present on the track reflect a heavily emotional sound that would be more at home in an emo CD. However, SWG smartly recontextualize these guitar lines into something that sounds proper on this album as well as hard-hitting for all of the fans that are listening in. There are just so many styles playing at any one given time for Shallow Water Grave that it is hard to discern what all is going on during a normal track. I want to hear more of Shallow Water Grave, that is a sure thing. Make sure to pick up this album.
Top Tracks: In The Aftermath, Persist and Persevere
Rating: 7.1/10
Shallow Water Grave – Suspension of Disbelief / 2006 Inner Strength / 7 Tracks / http://www.shallowwatergrave.com / http://www.winnerstrengthrecords.net / Reviewed 02 August 2006
[JMcQ]