Band:	Grand Cadaver
Album:	Deities Of Deathlike Sleep
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	August 2023

01. The Forever Doom
02. A Crawling Feast Of Decay
03. The Wishful dead
04. Serrated Jaws
05. Deities Of Deathlike Sleep
06. Vortex Of Blood
07. Funeral Reversal
08. True Necrogeny
09. Stabbed With Frozen Blood
10. Necrosanctum

Grand Cadaver show us they're not just your typical old-school death metal act: Deities Of Deathlike Sleep provides the listener with that wee bit extra. But, with an impressively creative line-up such as this, would you expect anything less?

Just in case you didn't know, the Swedish death metal band Grand Cadaver formed back in 2020 is masterminded by Dark Tranquillity's Mikael Stanne. The remaining line-up features guitarists Stefan Lagergren (ex-Tiamat) and Alex Stjernfeldt (Novarupta/Child), drummer Daniel Liljekvist (ex-Katatonia/In Mourning) and bassist Christian Jansson (Dark Tranquillity). Back in 2021, Grand Cadaver unleashed their full-length debut Into The Maw Of Death, and now, two years later, they return with their sophomore release Deities Of Deathlike Sleep. So how does this latest offering follow the reasonably impressive debut, I wonder? 

For starters, Deities Of Deathlike Sleep offers a much darker themed death doom approach, as opposed to the debut, which generally focused on a more heavy-hitting, old-school approach (and very little else, if I must be honest). By incorporating doom elements in the vein of early Katatonia (maybe their former drummer Daniel Liljekvist had a role to play in that) and richly melodic riffs (maybe Stanne wanted to bring a touch of Gothenburg to the party), Grand Cadaver demonstrate their desire to go beyond just simple old-school death metal. However, that does not mean the band intended to pull away from the early Swedish death metal sound completely. One striking feature that still remains is the classic ripping Entombed/Dismember-style buzzsaw effect — only, this time around, we're presented with even harder-hitting riffs, with more striking grooves, and with heavier pounding, more aggressive d-beats. Stenne's vocals are even a touch harsher and definitely a long way off from his melodic growls we're used to hearing from him with his time in the Gothenburg scene, that's for sure.

Deities Of Deathlike Sleep features ten tracks with a total running time of only 34 minutes, which you can easily say is relatively short in comparison to most modern death metal albums. But, because of the short track lengths, the album flows remarkably well, with each track running into one another so effortlessly. The opening track, "The Forever Doom", is basically a minor demonstration of what the title itself suggests, meaning a doom (if ever so slightly) approach. The track immediately begins with an agonizing scream before the classic buzzsaw riffs and ferocious d-beats are unleashed. The second half of the track takes the more mid-tempo doomier approach. Compare the opening track to the second track, "A Crawling Feast Of Decay", and there really isn't a lot between them structure-wise other than the second track containing a slightly higher level of groove. But both are equally impressive short tracks. 

From here on, there isn't a lot which separates the tracks in terms of quality or structure, with all riffs containing a high level of groove, and the rhythm regularly changing from heavy and ferocious to mid-tempo slogging. The style constantly alternates from classic old-school to death doom; sometimes the two styles even overlap. The main thing the band have got here, though, is consistency (that and the fantastic flow), and the length is more than ideal for repeated listening, with the melodies and hooks more than helping the situation. However, there are several moments where I can't shake off the feeling that I'm listening to a darker, doomier and much heavier version of Dark Tranquillity (which, with me being very much into Dark Tranquillity, is not a bad thing in the slightest). The tracks "True Necrogeny", and "Necrosanctum" are the best examples of this. The melodies from the softer sections on these two tracks are almost uncanny, and adding Stenne's vocals into the equation screams a darker, Dark Tranquillity all the more.

All in all, if you like your old-school death metal but are getting tired of hearing bands repeat themselves and want to hear something more, perhaps involving more doom and melody, then don't sleep on Deities Of Deathlike Sleep.