Gravemind announce debut album, 'Conduit'

Gravemind's debut record, 'Conduit', is dropping July 19th via Greyscale Records.

Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin is one of villains in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, a mad Russian colonel who uses electric and psionic abilities, later becoming the "Man On Fire" - a guy literally burning in flames - later on in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Look, the MGS series was fucking weird, okay? Volgin was an ugly, mostly uncool character who was driven by one goal at any given time in the franchise, whether chaos or revenge, as his later arc would be defined by.

Getting to the point here, Volgin is also the name of Gravemind's latest single, culled from their now-revealed debut LP, 'Conduit', which drops July 19th via Greyscale Records. Showing the Melbourne metal band aren't above their technical, deathcore heaviness and blast-beats with slick production, the group also weave in more bounce, space, melody and lyrical heart. While the punchy guitar tones of old may have been pulled back a little, 'Volgin' makes up for it by offering hefty, emotionally-driven choruses of "Is there anyone out there, searching for a meaning in all of this white noise?", dealing with pain, loneliness and determination; with deeper melodic layering then what most of their peers aim for.

It's a great balance, truth be told. Gravemind are one of those rare bands in the genre that prove that deathcore can definitely have feeling to it, that it can have way more dynamic and soul. A song-writing approach that was perhaps first heralded by the Australian band on their staggering 2018 single, the existence-lamenting 'Lifelike'.

As for the music video that dropped alongside 'Volgin', the plot focuses on a mental patient trying to escape the sanitarium that confines him after seeing a giant red monolith hovering outside the facility. (The very same crimson monolith that dons the front cover of 'Conduit'.) Our protagonist escapes only to never find what he saw, revealing to still be trapped within the asylum, and feeling his sanity slip, finally sets himself alight. The whole clip, directed by Ed Reiss, is a well-shot visual metaphor for how Gravemind as people will bleed, burn, and fight for their art, for their music, for their dreams. Even if no one else around them can see the value and vision in what they're doing at first. Personally, I'm about it.

Immolate yourself below with 'Volgin':