Shadow Flag (UK): “The White Grave”

It is always a pleasure to discover new bands who strive to explore new frontiers to create something new, avoiding any kind of cliché. This is definitely the case of Shadow Flag from UK. After the well-received self-titled debut album, Shadow Flag have returned with their sophomore album, The White Grave, an album that offers an original, intense and very personal view on extreme metal, but also transversally to its different styles: Shadow Black infuse different elements of black, thrash and doom metal with poetic sections to create a unique listening experience. In this way they follow their trademark of combining riff-laden soundscapes and spoken word; the tempo is never fast-paced and the approach is mostly doomish. I think the best part is the middle section with songs like “Villmark”, “The Scar That Never Sleeps” and “Sebastopol Screams”; the first and third of these songs show the doom vein of the band, while the second one has in my opinion atmospheres that are reminiscent of German Imperium Dekadenz.

Inspired by the now infamous Myths over Miami documentary, tha band extend this portrayal of ‘existence despite everything’ and recognise it on a global scale. The production is excellent too, with a great choice of sounds. In short, The White Grave is a magnificent, amzing album that I highly recommend.
 
Notes:
The White Flag was self-released on August 3 2015.
 
Personnel:
JJ Flames: vocals, bass, poetry
Carps Carpenter: guitars, artwork
Jake Doherty: guitars, words

Text by Herjann
herjann@unholyblackmetal.com