Not sure quite what the hell I expected from Dismal Times, the 2009 debut demo EP from Chicago traditional doom outfit Earthen Grave, but I am pretty sure the problem was with my expectation. Having heard a lot of top notch trad doom lately from the likes of The Wounded Kings and Apostle of Solitude, it’s hard to think of a reason I shouldn’t have dug immediately into Earthen Grave’s first half-hour of output as well, but something about the five tracks the six-piece outfit delivered just didn’t sit right in my head.

Maybe the bar was set too high in my mind because of how much Trouble’s name has been tossed around in companion to Earthen Grave’s. Sure, the band features former Trouble bassist Ron Holzner, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Dismal Times is going to be Manic Frustration. His mere presence (and neither that of Trouble’s Jeff “Oly” Olson nor Rick Wartell) wasn’t enough to save Wet Animal, so I don’t know why it would make so much of a difference in Earthen Grave.

Or maybe it was the violin thing. Earthen Grave aren’t the first band to tout strings, and Rachel Barton Pine’s talent is obvious from the outset, but there’s something gimmicky about it, isn’t there? Like, “Hey, check us out, we have this thing, and that makes us different?” so it can be a songwriting crutch? It’s possible that’s what did it, and all the more so because Pine rarely steps out of the parameters of the riffs of guitarists Tony Spillman and Jason Muxlow (The Living Fields), or even when she does, as on the solo of “Life Carries On,” it doesn’t do much to enhance the song another guitar solo couldn’t have accomplished. I’m sure it’s exciting to watch live, stringed instruments in a rock context usually are, but the standout factor isn’t really there on the recording. It works in some spots and is awkward in others. That’s life.

Vocalist Mark Weiner is capable of going where the music leads him without being outstanding, but I dig on plenty of bands with singing far more mediocre than his, so why that should be a problem I don’t know. And since I haven’t actually mentioned his playing, neither Holzner nor drummer Scott Davidson offend in the rhythm section. As an opener, “Dismal Times” is catchy enough introduction, and the band covers Witchfinder General (“Burning a Sinner”) and Pentagram (“Relentless”), so what the hell is the problem? What’s keeping me from getting on board here?

I haven’t yet mentioned the 10-minute “epic,” “Death on the High Seas,” which doesn’t take its extra time to do anything that “Dismal Times” (6:50) or “Life Carries On” (5:17) didn’t already do, but doesn’t hurt either. It’s basically more of the same, and since it follows the Witchfinder General cover and precedes the Pentagram cover, it gets lost in the mix, which, as a 10-minute song, it probably shouldn’t do. And maybe the problem is that, by “Death on the High Seas” being lost in the mix, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. Would it really matter if I never heard Dismal Times or encountered Earthen Grave in the first place?

At the risk of posing more questions than I answer, although everyone involved is a talented musician and good at what they do, I’m just not sure there’s anything about Earthen Grave’s first output that makes it feel consequential or like I’ll need to revisit it. In all likelihood, it’s a combination of factors that leads me to feel this way, but what it all rounds out to is that I came into Dismal Times with higher expectations than were met, and in this case, I can’t even really hold it against the band.

It’s not you, Earthen Grave. It’s me.

Fans of traditional doom: it’s okay to be psyched about Earthen Grave if you haven’t heard them yet, and I’m still going to recommend checking out Dismal Times for any followers of the ancient metallurgical arts. But, for the love of Iommi, be reasonable going into it, and know that even if the band doesn’t change your life or become your number one go-to listen, that doesn’t mean they suck or have nothing to offer either. I wish someone had told me that before I popped in the disc.

Earthen Grave on MySpace

Tags: Chicago, Earthen Grave, Illinois, Unsigned bands

This entry was posted on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 3:22 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.