It Ain’t Over Yet!

GRAVEYARD has been a favorite of mine since 2011, when I hit up their hometown of Göteborg, Sweden for a few days before settling into Sunderland, England. I was heading overseas to live while working on a degree, though I’d ultimately find gainful employment as a bud tender in Portland – who’d have thought a college boy would find a career selling legal weed? Anyways, while visiting Sweden, I couldn’t pass up the chance to see Iron Maiden, because Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time (c'mon, people, you know it’s true). They were in the midst of The Final Frontier World Tour and I was going to meet up with a buddy of mine there, Stu. I’d gotten to know Stu through an Iron Maiden fan club and discovered he also lived in Newcastle, so we were practically going to be UK neighbors.

Stu is the one who got me to listen to Graveyard for the first time. Several months before our rendezvous at Ullevi Stadium, he sent me a link to the track, “Lost In Confusion.” “This is the band opening the Maiden show,” he wrote, “Check 'em out!” 'Hisingen Blues’ (2011) was still awaiting release at that time, but I got ahold of the band’s self-titled debut and fell in love. 'Graveyard’ (2007) was so steeped in the seventies sound that it virtually oozed reefer through the speakers. The vintage tube and reel-to-reel sound really played to my soul. I pre-ordered Hisingen Blues straight away, the 18-year old me thinking, “This band is the closest I’m gonna get to seeing someone like Zeppelin.” I had no idea about the explosive growth in store for the stoner-psych scene in years to come.

Now, fast-forward to the morning of September 23rd, 2016. It my last three days managing a month-long tour for Graveyard label mates Mantar and I was preparing my mind for another brutal 8-hour drive. Awakening on the couch of another stranger-made-friend on my 24th birthday, I glanced at my phone to the realization that one of my favorite bands had called it splitsville. “Due to the all so classic reason 'differences within the band’ the Graveyard is as of today officially closed,” the band posted.   Well, Happy Birthday to me! Now get your ass on the road and drive from Minneapolis to Kansas City.   That was a weird day, but lucky for me Mantar gladly obliged my Graveyard listening binge for the entire stretch.

Lyrically, Graveyard always seems to know exactly where I’m at in life’s twisted journey – a phenomenon that’s remained consistent with each new album. Whether I’m jamming “I Ain’t Fit To Live Here” while getting high gazing upon fields of nothingness in the backroads along the Black Hills of South Dakota, on a “Slow Motion Countdown” boarding a plane to cross the Atlantic, or working my ass off in a job and “Longing” for that overdue raise, Graveyard’s songs have been there to sing me the blues. 'Lights Out’ (2012), especially, had this uncanny knack for expressing exactly what I was thinking and feeling in any given situation. I suspect many a fan relates to Graveyard for just the same reason. Here’s a band that really gets it.

Not long after announcing their indefinite hiatus, Graveyard piped up on social media in early 2017 to lay some more heavy new upon us: they would be parting ways with drummer Axel Sjöberg. It felt like a real blow to the gut for those of us who’d connected with the band live. I mean, the energy Axel brought to the stage was pure insanity! Then again, every band from Sweden I’ve seen live seems to have no trouble attracting top dog musicians and stage performers. Balancing bad news with good, Graveyard also signaled to fans that new material was in the works.

That brings us all to 'Peace’ (2018). Joakim Nilsson (guitar, vocals), Jonathan Ramm (guitar), and Truls Mörck (bass) are back with a new drummer in tow, Oskar Bergenheim. “Please Don’t” was the first track Graveyard shared from the new LP and I was thoroughly impressed. Oskar has much more of a Ringo roll-and-fill style than Axel’s crazy, black metal influenced style of drumming. Change noted, but definitely not hated.

To be honest, longtime fans have to realize Graveyard is now a whole new rhythm section. I haven’t seen Rikard play with Graveyard since Sweden in 2011. He was there to help write Lights Out, but had to put some personal matters that took precedence over playing bass in a band. Truls has been filling bass duties since Graveyard’s tour with The Shrine in 2015, where I first saw him play. Truls and Oskar’s dynamic is much different than Rikard and Axel’s, but the difference opens a lot of interesting possibilities for growth. Plus, Truls has been contributing those hazy, Hendrix-like vocals to some of the latter Graveyard tracks, like “Birds of Paradise” (at least I assume that isn’t Joakim singing – if it is, then I’m stunned at his newfound range).

“It Ain’t Over Yet” is probably my favorite track of the record. I think we can all agree that Graveyard knows how to open an album! They always manage to stir my soul, that’s for sure. With the weight of Peace in the balance, it’s safe to say Graveyard is evolving. I think I was just stoned those many years back when I decided to classify Graveyard as “stoner metal.” It’s clear to me now that they’re much more important than metal. They are Graveyard.