Spanish Death Metallers GRAVEYARD announce their fourth full-length!
"Hold Back The Dawn“ will be released on September 20th through War Anthem Records on CD and Vinyl. The cover art was once again provided by the band’s 'sixth member' Matt Carr.
Recorded & mixed at Moontower Studios in March, the album was recently mastered by Dan Lowndes at Resonance Sound Studio.
"Hold Back The Dawn" is the third chapter of a tetralogy, based on H.P. Lovecraft's cosmology, that started back in 2013 with "The Sea Grave" and will be closed with the next album.
Tracklist:
1. Swarm of Flies
2. Winds Like Daggers
3. Of Extant Cults and Living Terrors
4. Hurled Unto Damnation
5. The Storm Above (Port Sulphur)
6. The Shrike
7. O Beast I Fear Thy Name
8. Madre de la Noche
More news will follow soon!
ONLINE
LINEUP
Javi - Guitars
Gusi - Drums
Julkarn - Bass & Vocals
Mark - Guitars
Fiar - Live vocals
{tab=title="BIOGRAPHY" class="orange"}
July 2007 - Julkarn and Bastard started fooling around with the whole GRAVEYARD thing a long time ago. They had always discussed about the possibility to develope a band / side-project in order to worship and show respect toward those bands they hailed since they were teenagers like ENTOMBED, ASPHYX, DISMEMBER, SLAYER, CELTIC FROST, EDGE OF SANITY, AT THE GATES, VENOM, AUTOPSY, CARNAGE, MORBID ANGEL, GRAVE or BOLT THROWER. Both tried so many times to arrange something, but never seemed to be the right moment for it. In July 2007, Bastard and Julkarn got in contact with drummer Gusi from the band UNDERTAKER (Now called MORBID FLESH). He is such a young guy compared to Julkarn and Bastard, but fortunately has the same musical taste concerning old school tradition and how Death Metal should be.
August 2007 – On 25th August 2007, GRAVEYARD entered a dirty garage up in the hills of Castelldefels (Owned by Roberto F. Giordano, cover illustrator of every GRAVEYARD release), and composed, arranged, rehearsed and recorded the songs included on "Into The Mausoleum". After 2 days of insanity, infamy, serious hell raising and blasphemy, Bastard, Julkarn and Gusi unleashed 4 hymns of pure and unique Death Metal based on the late 80's and early 90's tradition, specially that one which used to come from Sweden.
October 2007 - "Into The Mausoleum" was finished in October 2007 at Bastard's Moontower home Studio where growls, bass lines, fx and intros were recorded and mixed in different sessions. We asked some friends to give us a helping hand so the famous Tattoo Master Roberto Giordano did an amazing album cover for us, our long time comrade Katu Marus created our mighty logo and finally, another good friend of the band, Oppi, did the myspace (Cesar from Black/Deathers DECAPITATED CHRIST created the cool retro website).
November 2007 - A the end of 2007, after looking for several guitar players, SBE from the Black/Death Metal band ERED joined the band as a second guitarist so GRAVEYARD completed the line-up and started rehearsing and doing promotion of their demo/promo “Into the Mausoleum” all around the world. Reviews came in donzens from websites, fanzines, radios, magazines… Around 200/250 promo copies were printed and spread.
December 2007 – After few negotiations, GRAVEYARD signed a deal with Black Seed Productions (Owned by legendary Spanish Black Metallers PRIMIGENIUM’s guys) in order to release the demo/promo “Into the Mausoleum” as an MCD (1000 copies) with the same 4 songs + intro + outro remastered and a bonus track (DEATH’s “Zombie Ritual”). At the same time, another deal was signed with Antichristian Front Records (Owned by Nocturn from PROFUNDIS TENEBRARUM, OBSCURE and VOICE OF HATE fame) who offered the band to release “Into the Mausoleum” on vinyl with a A2 cool poster and a cover of famous “Cenotaph” hymn from BOLT THROWER as a bonus track. Finally, French underground label Ars Funebris Records asked us to release “Into the Mausoleum” on tape, limited to 100 hand numbered, with a free button of the band’s monicker.
February 2008 – Ruptura Records released the very first official GRAVEYARD t-shirt limited to 100 copies (Which nowadays is SOLD OUT, Don’t ask for it anymore!). The band entered Moontower Studios (Owned by guitar player Bastard) and recorded DEATH and BOLT THROWER covers and a new song called “What Dwells Beneath” which was supposed to be released on an upcoming Split not decided yet at that time.
March 2008 - GRAVEYARD did their very first live appearance in Sabadell (Barcelona) on March 1st together with the mighty OBSCURE, young thrashers ASFIXIA and the italian Thrashers DEATH MECHANISM. The show was scheduled at the locally legendary Sala Seattle. Both releases, the tape and the MCD, are released around those days.
April 2008 - At the end of April, after some serious rehearsals, GRAVEYARD did some shows in Madrid (With serbian Black Metallers THE STONE who had to play next day with us on Portugal and local blackers BLOODOLINE, with TEITANBLOOD members on the line-up), as well as destroyed Portugal’s infamous Barroselas Fest, where some other big acts like NIFELHEIM, ENSLAVED, REGURGITATE, BRUJERIA, FLESHCRAWL, ROTTEN SOUND… also played. That show was a blast, even though the band played at the small stage. GRAVEYARD got several drunk after all and did some cool friend(Alcoholic)ship with other bands… Fortunately, we arrived alive and well to our hometown next day…
May 2008 - Early on May 2008, GRAVEYARD played again in Barcelona (El Prat de Llobregat) together with the thrashers FATAL INJURY at the Metal Load venue. The small club was packed and it was the first appearance of the band in their Barcelona. 2 weeks after, on 17th May 2008, the band played on Lleida together with BETWEEN THE FROST, NEBULAH and SPELLCRAFT. That show was kind of a festival called Sabbath Fest. Actually it was crap, 0 promotion and just 40 people… A waste of time (Even though the after party at pub Orion was legendary…). Around those days, GRAVEYARD recorded 2 new songs “Howl of the Black Death” and “Wormfeast” for upcoming Splits.
June 2008 – GRAVEYARD did an amazing show at Dark Factory club on 28th of June with METRALLA and KORGULL THE EXTERMINATOR. Aftershow party was amazing as well…
July 2008 - On July 3rd, GRAVEYARD had to open for the mighty thrashers FORBIDDEN in Barcelona but the tour was cancelled (At least the Spanish shows). That summer, the band finally sort things out in order to release 2 Splits with TERRORIST and DEATHEVOKATION. Another deal was signed with American big label Relapse Records who offered the band a deal to release GRAVEYARD merchandise like t-shirts (Hey Mike, we’re still waiting!!!).
October 2008 – Bad luck hit the GRAVEYARD basement again when in October we had to cancel our appearance at one of the seasons at the Black Land Festival (Berlin – Germany) where some other cool bands like PROTECTOR, MINOTAUR, MANOS or MORRIGAN also should play. The main reason was that we were offered to support ARTILLERY and NECRODEATH here in Barcelona (Martohell Fest) and it was the next day so we declined to play the day before in Germany, just a matter of preferences. The Martohell Fest (October 4th ) was a blast and there was live shows from ARTILLERY, NECRODEATH, GIRLSCHOOL, SILVER FIST… A friend of the band recorded the show live so we hope we could release it someday!. At the end of the month, on 25th October, we supported HAIL OF BULLETS in Barcelona at the Mephisto venue. It was an amazing night, probably the best GRAVEYARD’s performance ever since we had Martin Van Drunen from HAIL OF BULLETS (Also BOLT THROWER, ASPHYX and PESTILENCE in the past) on vocals with us on stage doing the BOLT THROWER’s classic “Cenotaph”, ¡A night to remember!.
November 2008 – More shows are scheduled. On November 7th GRAVEYARD played with finish Old School Death gods LIE IN RUINS and local supporters METRALLA at the Sala Seattle venue in Sabadell. Another cool night for history!!!!. Next day, on Saturday, a little bit wasted, hangover and fuck up, GRAVEYARD moved to Madrid again to play at the cool Trauma Fest with other bands like DEAD CONGREGATION, HAEMHORRAGE, DEMIGOD, VOMITORY, REGURGITATE, ROMPEPROP, SKEPTICISM, GRUESOME STUFF RELISH… Due to some serious sound problems, the band delivered probably their worst live appearance, ¡Sorry Madrid Deathers, see you next time!.
December 2008 – GRAVEYARD started rehearsing the songs (Previously composed) for their first Full length. Another future release was scheduled; An Split with NOMINON paying homage to Swedish doom gods CANDLEMASS (1 cover song from CANDLEMASS played by GRAVEYARD + 1 cover song from CANDLEMASS played by NOMINON + 1 cover song from CANDLEMASS played by both NOMINON/GRAVEYARD members!!!), ¡Thanx Perra for the amazing idea!. GRAVEYARD appeared on 2 compilations, “Mystical Music Magazine” (Issue #14) and Spain Kills (Volume 1), released by Xtreem Music from Madrid (Owned by famous Dave Rotten).
January 2009 – The band continued rehearsing the new songs for their first Full length LP. Finally, the band decided to record 9 songs + an instrumental one and the title of the album was spawned: “One with the Dead”. On 21st January, Iron Bonehead Productions from Germany finally released the GRAVEYARD / TERRORIST 7” Split. GRAVEYARD included here the previously recorded song “Howl of the Black Death” plus a live song, “Ritual”. 2 days after, Nuclear War Now! Productions from America released another Split 7”, this time featuring GRAVEYARD / DEATHEVOKATION. GRAVEYARD included the song “What Dwells Beneath”. Both releases can be purchased directly through the band or asking to their labels.
February 2009 – GRAVEYARD played the Dark Factory Club in Sabadell (Spain) once again with Italian HORRID and Swedish NOMINON. A True Weekend ov Death (Including the infamous barbecue from Hell…). Pre-production of the songs from “One with the Dead” starts.
March 200>9 – More shows scheduled with HATE (Pol) in Tarragona, MACHETAZO + HINDRANCE + PESTA PORCINA (Spain) in Barcelona and PROFUNDIS TENEBRARUM + VISCERAL DAMAGE + KONDENA in Valencia (Worst show ever done by the band. We played at 5 o clock in the morning which sucked big time…).
April 2009 – GRAVEYARD supported dutch death metal legend ASPHYX in Barcelona together with VIOLENT HEADACHE and LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER. The next day all the band members did a cool barbecue & shitloads of beers. In April 27th, the band started recording at Moontower Studios the “One with the Dead” album. Perra from Swedish NOMINON (who also attended the ASPHYX show in Barcelona) recorded drums for the bonus track “A Tale of Creation” (CANDLEMASS’ cover).
May 2009 – FINALLY, “Into the Mausoleum” was officially released in vinyl by Antichristian Front Records with an A2 poster and a BOLT THROWER cover (“Cenotaph”). “One with the Dead” recording and mixing issues were done. More shows were done: Pyrenean Metal Fest in Perpignan (France) with our friends in KÖRGULL THE EXTERMINATOR plus CRYSYS and ZOLDIER NOIZ and the infamous “Glorifying the Grand Beast Fest” in Berlin, Germany, with NECROS CHRISTOS, KAAMOS, MORBOSIDAD and NECROCCULTUS, probably our best show til then… Massive thanx to Patrick from Iron Bonehead Prod, you rule!.
June & July 2009 – The band focused on the “One with the Dead” mastering (done by Dan Swano at Unisound Studios) and other related issues concerning the new album (label, format releases, details, layout, cover…).
August 2009 – “One with the Dead” is in our hands. Extremely HOT show in Almeria, south Spain, with LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER, AVULSED, DEATH OVER THREAT and MORVITY. New t-shirts printed…
September 2009 – “One with the Dead” is finally and officially released by BlackSeed Productions in regular jewel case CD and limited digipack with the CANDLEMASS bonus track. The album featured guest performances from Perra (NOMINON), Dan Swano on vocals, Roni (LIE IN RUINS) and Pedro (METRALLA). An slipcase promo CD was also released for promotional purposes. GRAVEYARD signed a deal with german promotion label Sure Shot Worx! In order to promote the album in Germany.
October 2009 – GRAVEYARD did (once again) a show at Dark Factory Club in Sabadell (Spain) with PROCLAMATION and GOAT TORMENT.
January 2010 – Another show, this time in Madrid called BlackSeed Festival with DECAYED and DISHAMMER. Bastard joined LUX DIVINA as a guitar player.
February 2010 – 2 shows with Swedish TORMENTED in Zaragoza, Spain (with ATARAXY as supporters) and Dark Factory Club in Sabadell, Spain (with ATARAXY and DECAPITATED CHRIST as supporters). The second one gathered more than 200 people!!!!. A professional audio/video recording was done for a future release.
March 2010 – GRAVEYARD played in Milano, Italy, with death metal masters HORRID. The band did preproduction for 5 new tracks (+ new covers) supposed to appear in several Splits, Ep’s and stuff. A 7” Split with Spanish thrashers REDIMONI was prepared. It is in the label’s hands! (Antichristian Front Records) so expect it sometime in 2010!.
May 2010 – Swedish tour with NOMINON, the “March of the Undead” tour. 3 shows in Jonkoping, Sundsvall (First Spanish band to play ever there!) and Stockholm with supporter bands like SEMLAH, TORMENTED and CYNICAL HATRED. Our 3 best shows ever til date, MASSIVE!!!!!!!. “One with the Dead” was released on Tape by Ars Funebris Records from France (200 copies, PRO tape). New t-shirts printed…
June 2010 – Julkarn joined BANISHED FROM INFERNO as a vocalist/bass player. The band decided to stop doing shows for a while in order to focus on new stuff & recordings. Promo for “One with the Dead” has been very successful with positive reviews in shitloads of websites, fanzines and big magazines like Terrorizer, Metal Hammer, Legacy, Grind Zone… Around 35 interviews were done just for this album from August 2009 until June 2010. License deals for “One with the Dead” in Germany, USA, Asia and Benelux have been arranged. 2 more Splits are in the making; one with NECRO (Unholy Domain Records) and WINTERWOLF (Doomentia Records).
September 2010: All the material for “The Altar of Sculpted Skulls” was recorded, including a re-recorded version of “Ritual” (from our debut “Into the Mausoleum”) and a remixed version of “Howl of the Black Death” (that was originally featured on the split with TERRORIST). Another track called “A Dream of a Million Corpses” was recorded for a split with finnish WINTERWOLF. A deal was arranged with a newcomer british label in order to release “The Altar of Sculpted Skulls”. Due to some personal issues, the label mananger of this british company told us that he could not release it so several emails were sent to some labels and finally Pulverised Records (Singapur) and Doomentia Records (Chech Republic) decided to release it.
November 2010: GRAVEYARD played together with KORGULL THE EXTERMINATOR + INSULTERS + ERED + LUX DIVINA + FOSCOR + DECAPITATED CHRIST + REDIMONI... and some other bands at the Antiratzinger Fest in Barcelona, an amazing night full of religious blasphemy!!!.
March 2011: GRAVEYARD played at the Pentagram Fest with MACHETAZO, INTERMENT, SEVERE TORTURE, ATARAXY and LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER in front of a 400 people packed venue in Valencia, another night to remember!!!.
September 2011: GRAVEYARD played with finish LIE IN RUINS in Castellón, Spain. A Split tape with italian NECRO (Unholy Domain Records) was released, GRAVEYARD’s side included basically cover songs from MOTORHEAD, CELTIC FROST, BOLT THROWER and DEATH. Our new EP “The Altar of Sculpted Skulls” was released on 12” by Doomentia Records. 100 first copies came with a silkscreened insert. Some t-shirts with the “The Altar...” design were also printed by Doomentia.
November 2011: GRAVEYARD played with biggest spanish Thrash Metal act ANGELUS APATRIDA in Barcelona. Another show in Galicia was arranged for December with cool mates BALMOG and WARGOATCULT, the infamous Holy Hell Fest. Our guitar player SBE could not come with us so with hired Mark from mighty KORGULL THE EXTERMINATOR as a live guitar player. The band appear at the Devil’s Grave Compilation CD together with bands like BLACK OATH, UNCONSECRATED, PROCESSION, NOCTURNAL VOMIT, AFTER DEATH... We also went through the most hilarious thing in our brief career, check this out and laugh til death: (it isn’t a joke!!!!!) http://www.facebook.com/pages/Graveyard/112299805501853
February 2012: After some months of delay, “The Altar of Sculpted Skulls” was finally released on CD by Pulverised Records limited to 1000 copies. The band started composing and rehearsing songs for their new full lenght “The Sea Grave”. 2 tracks were recorded live at the studio, “Of Thirst and Eternal Death” and “Eternal” (PARADISE LOST cover).
June 2012: “The Altar of Sculpted Skulls” got amazing reviews everywhere, tons of interviews were made in support of the album. GRAVEYARD played together with KORGULL THE EXTERMINATOR, ATONEMENT, ONIROPHAGUS, TORT and MANIAC at the Zineroceous Fest in Barcelona. It was the last show with our former guitar player SBE…
August 2012: The day before we should start recording our new album “The Sea Grave”, our guitar player SBE decided to leave the band due to some personal and musical issues. The 3 remaining members, Bastard, Gusi and Julkarn, started the recording that took for almost 4 months to be completed. During the recording, guitar player Mark from KORGULL THE EXTERMINATOR was asked to join the band as a permanent member replacing SBE. A new 7” with NOMINON (Both bands covering CANDLEMASS songs) was released by Cyclone Empire and limited to 500 copies. The band arranged a deal with german War Anthem Records in order to release “The Sea Grave”, both in vinyl and CD. During the recording of “The Sea Grave”, the band also recorded a few more extra songs for a 7” split with polish ULCER (SelfmadeGod Records) and a 12” Split with KORGULL THE EXTERMINATOR (Including a rendition to KORGULL’s classic “Revenge of the Dead”). Matt “Putrid” Carr, the same guy who did the painting for “The Altar of Sculpted Skulls”, started to work on “The Sea Grave” artwork.
November 2012: The recording sessions for “The Sea Grave” finish. A 7” split with ULCER is released through SelfMadeGod Records from Poland as well as some t-shirts. The band starts rehearsing with new live singer Fiar (FOSCOR, MELANGIA, DAWN OV HATE).
March 2013: “The Sea Grave” is released on March 22nd!
DISCOGRAPHY
One with the Dead - 2009
The Sea Grave - 2013
...for Thine Is the Darkness - 2016
Hold Back The Dawn - 2019