Italian four-piece Return from the Grave play a few tricks on their latest release. Following two full-lengths, 2012’s The Rebirth from the Last Breath and 2014’s Gates of Nowhere, the Venice-based riffers present Three(p), their quizzically but suitably named third outing, comprising three tracks that work to set a deceptive breadth. You’re about ankle deep into opener and 9:35 longest cut “Timelessness” when just before about three and a half minutes in, the band hit the brakes on the full-drive fuzz they’ve thus far proffered in order to set the foundation for a linear, atmospheric psych build that will play out over the remainder of the song. Not exactly like the verses before were lacking a sense of spaciousness, but it’s a particularly sharp turn to enact as they seemed to be building so much forward momentum, and the fact that they manage to efficiently reestablish a flow adds depth to what seems at first to be a relatively straight-ahead affair.

Three(p) is Return from the Grave‘s first outing to feature bassist Davide Bressan, who joins the lineup of drummer Giacomo “Jack” Secco, guitarist Luca “Sparta” Salviato and vocalist Jacopo “Semenz” Semenzato and makes his present strongly felt in inventive bass fills as “Timelessness” swirls toward its conclusion, tambourine and layers of guitar forward in the mix on top of the steady low end. “Soul’s Grime” continues to expand the aesthetic foundation that “Timelessness” set out, this time with a shorter push — no break to a jam — but a more doomly feel, Semenzato backing himself with a few echoing growls to further the titular grime. The groove is still heavy rock at its heart, and the tones are still duly fuzzed, but the angle of approach has shifted, and the end product is just as much headbang fodder as it is nod. By the time “Sough” comes on to close out at 7:46, the feeling is that Return from the Grave could and might go pretty much anywhere within a heavy sphere.

That widened explanation suits them, and “Sough” does not disappoint. Floydian progressivism taking hold with Semenzato as a kind of echoing carnival-master at the core of its first half before a slow, massive rolling groove takes hold and, somehow, builds itself to a point where Return from the Grave can make its tempo swing to finish out under a fiery lead from Salviato and some especially righteous fuzz corresponding. But for the consistency of the production and the unifying aspect of tones and vocals, one might put on Three(p) and think it was a compilation of different bands, but Return from the Grave skillfully tie the material together, exploring swath of influences in heavy rock, psych and doom without losing themselves in the process or directly impersonating one sound or another. That overarching clarity through what proves to be a nuanced style is one of the EP’s greater strengths, but that’s not to discount the quality of a hook like “Soul’s Grime” or the fluidity that “Timelessness” hones in its second half, both of which demonstrate that there’s more to their songcraft than mere trickery.

I have the pleasure today of hosting Three(p) for a full stream, and you can find it followed by some recording info and buy links on the player below. Please enjoy:

A year after our last full length ‘Gates of Nowhere’, we’re back with other three songs, an infernal concept representing all our musical influences, an EP we think to be a big step forward for the band itself.

Recorded, mixed and mastered @ Spazio 55, Treviso, Italy by Andrea Condotta on August 2015

New CD ep out on noble Digisleeve edition limited to 300 copies. Sensational Epic Heavy Doom with massive Stoner Rock approach.

Return from the Grave on Thee Facebooks

Return from the Grave on Bandcamp

Argonauta Records

Tags: Argonauta Records, Italy, Return from the Grave, Return from the Grave Three(p), Three(p), Venice

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015 at 1:56 pm and is filed under audiObelisk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.