### Pale Divine: Cemetery earth

#### 22/03/14 || gk

Over the last few years now Shadow Kingdom Records has been doing a stellar job of re-releasing forgotten heavy metal gems. The latest to get the re-release treatment is classic American doom metal band Pale Divine’s 2007 release “Cemetery earth”.

Formed by guitarist/vocalist Greg Diener and drummer Darrin McCloskey back in 1995, Pale Divine has not been particularly prolific; releasing an album every 3-4 years. “Cemetery earth”, originally released on Sweden’s I Hate records was primed for a re-release simply because the album seems to been out of print for the last couple of years and also because it is arguably the group’s finest release till date.

The album opens with “The eyes of destiny” which is one classy doom metal song complete with heartfelt vocals, a fuzz ridden bottom end and some superbly fluid lead guitar playing from Diener. Fire and ice has a bluesy, proto-doom feel to it but is another great song with some killer riffing while “Broken wings” has more great guitar playing and an excellent lead guitar section. The slightly flat vocal line in the chorus is boosted by some clever phrasing and the laid back bass line is perfect accompaniment to the guitar showboating on this song. Title song Cemetery earth is over 10 minutes long but doesn’t really feel like it. Starting with a fuzzed out guitar, the song’s central riff is superb; managing to be heavy, melodic, melancholic and always fucking epic, the riff is king. “Soul searching” sounds like a song that Wino could have written in his The Obsessed days with its main riff that falls in on itself and that hard rocking chorus which is infectious. The conqueror worm is all psychedelic and spacey at the start but then goes off into a bass heavy riff and more of Diener’s superb lead guitar playing brings the album to an end.

The musicianship on “Cemetery earth” is pretty great. Greg Diener’s guitar playing is superb all the way through this album, whether it’s the memorable riffs or the always tasteful solos of which there are plenty. John Gaffney’s bass playing is sublime and it’s his fills in the empty spaces behind the guitar that really stand out while drummer Darin McCloskey is always solid and occasionally breaks free to great effect.

This re-issue comes with a bonus disc as well made up of demos from the “Cemetery earth” sessions along with three live songs off a set from 2011. It’s a pretty solid package all things considered. Cemetery earth” is essential listening for the doom metal fan. If you’re one of the few that has the original pressing then there’s not much here for you to shell out again but if you missed out the first time around then this re-release is definitely worth a purchase. Pale Divine is a classic doom metal band and “Cemetery earth” is their finest hour.

- Information
- Released: 2014
- Label: Shadow Kingdom Records
- Website: Pale Divine Facebook
- Band
- Greg Diener: vocals, guitars
- John Gaffey: bass
- Darin McCloskey: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. The Eyes of Destiny
- 02. Fire and Ice
- 03. Broken Wings
- 04. (I Alone) The Traveller
- 05. Cemetery Earth
- 06. Empyrean Dream
- 07. The Seventh Circle
- 08. Soul Searching
- 09. Shadows of Death
- 10. The Conqueror Worm