Communal Grave have made a name for themselves in the growing Pakistani underground metal scene in the past two years. Both of the songs on this demo are immensely popular among metalheads in Pakistan, and their song 'Anomaly' received some airplay on a local metal radio show, Black Sunday. But are the band really as good as their fans think?

Fuck yes, they are. The two songs on this demo, though poles apart in terms of the music, are both catchy and headbangable. The first track, 'Anomaly' is a melodic death metal song with some thrashy moments. It is clearly evident that the band put a lot of thought into the structure of the song, and everything falls into place perfectly. The riffs are standard melodic death metal, nothing special, but it's the guitar solo (delivered by Reckoning Storm's Saad Akhter) that takes the cake. The vocals are also very well done, especially near the end when Moiz screams "NO REMORSE!" There are some Lamb of God-ish moments in the song, due to the fact that LOG are one of the band's main influences. I'm not big on melodic death metal, but I have to admit that Communal Grave did really well in this song. People who enjoy reading lyrics of songs might want to check out this song's lyrics. The lyrics deal with a disabled boy who is shunned by society and treated like a freak.

The next song, 'Blinded by Deceit' is my favorite Communal Grave song. It is a fast thrasher, and is just under five minutes in length. The structure in this song is also very tight, but the drum roll during the tempo change in between really ruins it. The song has no solo, but the lyrics and the guitar work make up for it. The vocals are somewhat guttural but can be understood word for word. This song contrasts a lot with 'Anomaly', and shows that the band has a faster and more vicious sound in them too.

Overall, it's a good demo, and the production quality is pretty good for a demo. If you enjoy modern metal, check out Communal Grave but treat this like the plague if you dislike modern extreme metal.

Reviewed by MegaHassan
01/17/2009 12:56