Grave

Grave is a Swedish death metal group from Visby and Stockholm, active since 1988. The band starts out under the name Corpse in 1986 before adopting the Grave name and becoming one of the longest-running acts in Swedish death metal. Its line-up includes Ola Lindgren, Fredrik Isaksson, Ronnie Bergerståhl, Jenså Paulsson, Per Ekegren and Tobias Cristiansson.

Early releases

Grave records a number of demos before its debut album, Into the Grave, which arrives in 1991. The album helps establish the band as a force in death metal and is followed by extensive live work in Europe and North America. The next album, You'll Never See, appears in 1992 and is noted for a cleaner and stronger sound while keeping the band’s heavy style. That release is the first without bassist Jonas, who leaves before the album is made.

Line-up changes and the 1990s

After failed attempts to replace the bass position, the band returns to a three-piece line-up, with guitarist Jörgen Sandström moving to bass. In 1993, Grave releases the limited EP ...And Here I Die...Satisfied, which contains new, rare and remixed material spanning the group’s recording history. Soulless follows, recorded in 1994 at Sunlight Studios in Stockholm with producer Tomas Skogsberg. It presents a more mature sound while remaining heavy and direct.

In 1996, Grave releases Hating Life, again produced by Skogsberg at Sunlight Studios. This album features Ola Lindgren on vocals for the first time after Sandström leaves. The band tours in Europe and the United States in support of the record, then takes a long break before regrouping in 1999.

Return and later albums

When Grave reformulates, Jonas Torndal returns on second guitar and Fredrik Isaksson takes bass. The band plays its first live show in five years in Stockholm and records Back from the Grave at Sunlight Studios in 2002. The album is issued with a bonus disc containing three Grave demos from 1988 and 1989.

Later releases include Fiendish Regression, recorded with Pelle Ekegren on drums, and As Rapture Comes, which comes out on Century Media and includes a cover of Alice In Chains' Them Bones. The Enraptured DVD follows, documenting a live show in Poland with additional filmed material, an interview, biography, discography and photographs. Dominion VIII is the first Grave album on Regain Records after the band leaves Century Media, and Burial Ground follows in 2010.

Style and activity

Grave is described as a band focused on old-school death metal with a brutal, groove-heavy sound. Its work develops from the early intensity of Into the Grave through the more mature approach of later albums such as Soulless, while remaining within death metal and metal. The group continues to perform and record as an active Swedish death metal band.