With every indication that album number eight could be an absolute stormer therefore, it's encouraging to find the quartet's momentum unwavering on _As Rapture Comes_. While tracks like "Burn" and "Leaving the Dead Behind" maintain all of the band's erstwhile trademarks (bass lines that burrow straight down to the earth's core, mercilessly hammering drums and, of course, the classic European death metal guitar sound) it's very soon apparent that Grave have given their vintage formula a long overdue dusting off, and brought it kicking and screaming into a time that more closely resembles the twenty-first century. The new material betrays a more varied, aggressive and at times even catchier approach, with "Unholy Terror" being possibly the most violent addition to the band's discography to date. A surprise cover even rears its head in the form of Alice in Chains' virtually unrecognisable "Them Bones".

Whether this is enough to turn Grave into one of the year's indispensable acts is another matter altogether though, but you'd imagine that anyone who got all tingly while listening to the new Dismember will be creaming their shorts for this one.