Album Review: Gravemind – Conduit

Australian heavy music has risen in notoriety and profile exponentially in the last ten to 15 years, nationally and internationally, and now a new force is rising in Aussie heaviness. Their name is Gravemind.

Yes, the debut album from this Melbourne-based five-piece is brutally, blisteringly heavy. It pounds the listener into happy submission with its relentlessly crushing although interestingly off-kilter grooves, enormous guitar and drums sounds (producer Scottie Simpson here needs to be congratulated on the stunning job he's done) and screaming, throat-ripping vocals, which are delivered with angst dredged up from the darkest part of frontman Dylan Gillies-Parsons’ soul. 

However, heaviness alone doth not maketh a great album or band. Gravemind display a maturity lightyears beyond their relative newcomer status. There is a nous in the songcraft and a sense of dynamics here that should, if there is any justice in the music world, elevate them above the cookie-cutter crew. It is this juxtaposition of intensity and imagination that makes a great heavy band, and Gravemind has it in droves, as best exemplified by blazing, impactful first single Volgin. 

Conduit could be the passageway leading to the next era of attention-grabbing Australian heavy music. If you dig heavy music that simultaneously smashes you in the face and stimulates your musical intellect, grab this record the second it drops.