Battlegrave - Enslavement - Metal Epidemic

Battlegrave – Enslavement
Release Date: 10th April 2026
Label: Self Released
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Thrash, Extreme Metal.
FFO: Schizophrenia, Defaced, Revocation, Skullhammer, Oxygen Destroyer, Vader, Cancer, Sodom.
Review By: Mark Young

A week late with this, I can only offer my unbridled apologies to the boss, and to Australian duo Battlegrave who dropped their 3^rd full length release, promising a relentless barrage of top metal frippery, and hopefully building upon the relative success of Cavernous Depths from 2022.

Right – let’s get straight into this by way of a flow chart:

1. Do you like Heavy Metal?
→ Yes
→ No
2. Do you like classic‑sounding Death Metal with clear production (and doesn’t sound like it’s been recorded in a shoebox)?
→ Yes
→ No

If you answered yes to both, then this is for you. I could have gone further by asking about super low guitars with no discernible riffs, but I thought better. This is metal for the fans, written by fans of the genre. Its so nailed on that you can’t help getting swept along by them. Let me temper this by noting that their music isn’t ground-breaking, we know there is so much you can do, so they opt to do it very well. That is the difference between them and others. Soul Chasm does exactly what you need it to do, charging away amidst a blur of double bass, light speed guitars and guttural vocals. Just on the strength of that song you will either love or hate it, there is no middle ground here. They follow up with blast after blast that place their focus on the riff first, everything else secondary.

There is Only Death is a scorcher, upping tempos and execution in an attempt to burn through the skin. The drumming on this, and on others (Bonesaw – check that one) is bordering on superhuman, the application is devastating and all praise should be laid at Robin Stone’s door. Saying that, Clint Patzel is no slouch here either, bringing the A-game of someone who knows what makes a good song and has repeated it here, ready to be devoured by you the listener.

Latter tracks such as Venom keep the intensity in place, not by keeping the tempo high but by slowing down a little so they can bring some muscular guitar in. Whilst its one of the shortest songs here, its one of the best in terms of its construction as it shows that there is more to them than just speed. Putting Asylum to one side as an interlude which really wasn’t required, they launch into Marked by Evil, which goes the opposite way to Venom, its length extended out and its on here that they show some real class. The build on it is one where they have consciously sat down to create a song that pulls all of their talents together in one spot and shining a light on them too. All of this good work will be for naught if the last track doesn’t match. US Outpost 31 does the decent ‘Thing’ by not letting the side down and providing the correct way to close an album out like this.

I was sold on this the minute that Soul Chasm kicked things off. Of course, it won’t be for everyone because it does throw its hat into one area of heavy metal and doesn’t attempt to change lanes in order to be more appealing. I’m glad that they have done this, by doing so they have concentrated on writing and recording a solid death metal album that sounds like a million dollars. If you have heard their music before then you know what they are about and will love this. If you are new to them but have answered yes to both questions above, then you should love this.