GRAVE's reunited 1991 lineup has no intentions to tour or record new music
21-08-2024
Earlier in the month, it was announced that the original 1991 lineup of Swedish death metal pioneers GRAVE — Ola Lindgren (guitar, vocals), Jörgen Sandström (vocals, guitar), Jens “Jensa” Paulsson (drums) and Jonas Torndal (bass) — will reunite for a series of concerts in 2025 during which they will perform “an exclusive old-school set” consisting of material from the first three classic GRAVE albums: 1991’s “Into The Grave”, 1992’s “You’ll Never See…” and 1994’s “Soulless”. The first confirmed performance will take place at the Party.San Metal Open Air festival at Flugplatz Obermehler in Schlotheim, Germany in August 2025.
Now, Lindgren has taken to GRAVE‘s social media to offer “some clarity” to what the upcoming shows will entail. He wrote: “Many thanks to all of you who commented on last weeks announcement and who are as excited about this as we are. Lets bring some clarity to what this ‘reunion’ is about.
“So early this year I was approached by the other 3 original members for a meeting. It resulted in the plan to do a couple of rehearsals for fun to see if we were first of all capable and also of course if we enjoyed jamming again.
“I would say that playing together after all these decades went far beyond anyone’s expectations so we decided to try get some shows booked and here we are.
“This is initially a plan for festival shows during 2025. At the moment there are no plans to do any touring or recording new material with this lineup but who knows where this might lead us…
“The GRAVE that imploded last year is not dead and buried, it is simply put on ice.
“Tomas (Lagrén, drums) is definitely not fired from the band and it will be his decision if he wants to be a part of any future GRAVE endevours when that time comes.”
One of the very first Swedish death metal bands alongside NIHILIST, MORBID and TREBLINKA, GRAVE released its first demo in 1986 under the band name CORPSE, before they switched to GRAVE in 1988. GRAVE‘s debut album, “Into The Grave”, arrived in August 1991 through the then-young record label Century Media.
Lindgren told the “Swedish Death Metal” book by Daniel Ekeroth about how GRAVE landed its record deal: “We sent our third demo to just every label there was. A lot of them kept in touch, such as Earache and Peaceville. But Century Media was working faster than any of them, so we just went with them without thinking too much about it. Century Media invited us down to Germany to record that single (‘Tremendous Pain’), and it was only after that we started to discuss a deal. It felt amazing for us to go abroad, so in a way they lured us into their roster! But it turned out well.”
After Century Media and GRAVE parted ways after seven albums with the release of 2006’s “As Rapture Comes”, the band launched two highly acclaimed albums, “Dominium VIII” (2008) and “Burial Ground” (2010) through Regain, before reuniting with Century Media for 2012’s “Endless Procession Of Souls” and 2015’s “Out Of Respect For The Dead”.
In 2019, GRAVE teamed up with Century Media Records to bring back the albums “Dominion VIII” and “Burial Ground” as classy, limited colored and black vinyl editions, hand-numbered digipak CDs limited to 3,000 copies each, and digitally. Remastered in 2019 by Lindgren and mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel of Temple Of Disharmony, these records offer crushing and savage GRAVE tracks that fully live up to the group’s morbid legacy.
This past January, GRAVE parted ways with bassist Tobias Cristiansson and guitarist Mika Lagrén.
Tobias said in a separate statement: “I want to inform everyone that I have left GRAVE. After much consideration I felt it was best for me to depart.
“I want to thank the band and the people that we have been working with over the years. I will however continue to play with NECROPHOBIC, DARKENED, IN APHELION and as a session player with other projects. I love to play and I love to be on stage, that’s the most rewarding thing in my life and I never want to give that up and it’s something I want to do as much as I can.
“I joined GRAVE in 2010 and it has been part of my life for the past 13 years. I have been fortunate to meet lots of fantastic people throughout the years and it has brought me to places around the world that I would never have had the chance to see if it wasn’t for GRAVE, for that I am forever grateful.
“I want to express my deepest appreciation to every single person that have bought tickets to any of the hundreds of shows that we have done over the years. I hope to see you all in the future!”
One of the very first Swedish death metal bands alongside NIHILIST, MORBID and TREBLINKA, GRAVE released its first demo in 1986 under the band name CORPSE, before they switched to GRAVE in 1988. GRAVE‘s debut album, “Into The Grave”, arrived in August 1991 through the then-young record label Century Media.
Lindgren told the “Swedish Death Metal” book by Daniel Ekeroth about how GRAVE landed its record deal: “We sent our third demo to just every label there was. A lot of them kept in touch, such as Earache and Peaceville. But Century Media was working faster than any of them, so we just went with them without thinking too much about it. Century Media invited us down to Germany to record that single (‘Tremendous Pain’),and it was only after that we started to discuss a deal. It felt amazing for us to go abroad, so in a way they lured us into their roster! But it turned out well.”
After Century Media and GRAVE parted ways after seven albums with the release of 2006’s “As Rapture Comes”, the band launched two highly acclaimed albums, “Dominium VIII” (2008) and “Burial Ground” (2010) through Regain, before reuniting with Century Media for 2012’s “Endless Procession Of Souls” and 2015’s “Out Of Respect For The Dead”.
In 2019, GRAVE teamed up with Century Media Records to bring back the albums “Dominion VIII” and “Burial Ground” as classy, limited colored and black vinyl editions, hand-numbered digipak CDs limited to 3,000 copies each, and digitally. Remastered in 2019 by Lindgren and mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel of Temple Of Disharmony, these records offer crushing and savage GRAVE tracks that fully live up to the group’s morbid legacy.
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