Hardline extreme metal squad To The Grave have unveiled their powerful new single / video 'Axe of Kindness', the second taken from their new album, Director’s Cuts, out 24th February, 2023, via Unique Leader Records. 'Axe of Kindness' continues the band's strong vegan message, watch the video here: https://youtu.be/jY67FPBNQRE
The band comment: "Axe is a tongue-in-cheek horror concept in the vein of The Purge, we had a little fun going ultra-violent on the idea of someone who’s had enough with a world full of apathy and plans to exact vengeance for animals by going door-to-door with a fire axe."
Pre-order Director’s Cuts here: https://orcd.co/directorscuts
One of Australia’s most uncompromising bands, To The Grave return with their heaviest album to date, both sonically and thematically. Since the release of their 2019 debut album Global Warning, the caustic five piece have garnered international success, with 2021’s follow-up Epilogue, a re-issue of Global Warning with bonus tracks, solidifying their position as “one of the country's heaviest exports.” (Revolver).
To The Grave have steadily built an audience in the underground, accumulating more than 11 million Spotify streams, racking up over 5.4 million YouTube views, all whilst decimating live audiences alongside Parkway Drive, Polaris, Cattle Decapitation, Thy Art Is Murder, Vulvodynia and Alpha Wolf.
Now, following a sold-out national headline tour in 2022 and revitalised by a new lineup, the band are more focused than ever, looking ahead to the release of their second album Director’s Cuts in February 2023.
The eleven tracks lyrically expose a societal and environmental hell on earth whilst pushing the boundaries of accessible extremity, full of barbed hooks, thick with atmosphere and drenched in groove. Razor-sharp guitars played with an exploratory approach - blending everything from whammy pedal squeaks and chiming cleans to death metal chainsaw tones - are entwined with live drums to give a level of dynamism that musically sets this band apart from the extreme metal pack, yet they maintain the weight of the heaviest bands today. Vocalist Dane Evans commands a multifaceted performance, bursting with vocal energy from throat-ripping dissonant screeches to low end gutturals.
At just over 44 minutes in length, Director’s Cuts is an album packed with ambition and conscience. To The Grave have never shied away from channeling the real horrors of animal cruelty and its impact into the violent, emotional intensity of their music. Songs such as ‘Red Dot Sight’, ‘Found Footage’ and ‘Cut Off The Head’ perfectly conjure images of a world gone astray.
Director’s Cuts was recorded by bassist Matt Clarke, with drums recorded live at The Brain Studios in Sydney and mixed and mastered by Lance Prenc at Prenc Audio (Void of Vision, Alpha Wolf, Polaris) in Melbourne with album photography by Animals Uncovered.
The band comment on the new album: "This is the refinement of our combined musical tastes, fuelled by our sadness and anger at the state of the world. We made the music we wanted to make without really considering how it would fit into any little genre boxes, because we knew if we loved it completely then everyone else would too. These songs are hard and heavy without being technical just for the sake of it.”
Watch the video to their first single ‘Red Dot Sight’, a hard-hitting track about anti-vegan public figures and the media perception against vegan activists, here: https://youtu.be/_eVHPX18kPc
Catch To The Grave on tour in Europe throughout January 2023 with Shadow Of Intent, Enterprise Earth and Angelmaker.
- 06.01.23 Germany Wiesbaden @ Schlachthof
- 07.01.23 Germany Cologne @ Essigfabrik
- 08.01.23 The Netherlands Tilburg @ Poppodium 013
- 09.01.23 Belgium Antwerp @ Kavka
- 10.01.23 UK Bristol @ The Fleece
- 11.01.23 UK Birmingham @ Asylum
- 12.01.23 UK Manchester @ Rebellion
- 13.01.23 UK Glasgow @ Cathouse
- 14.01.23 UK London @ O2 Academy Islington
- 15.01.23 UK Southampton @ The Joiners
- 17.01.23 France Paris @ Glazart
- 18.01.23 France Lyon @ Rock N Eat
- 19.01.23 Italy Milan @ Legend Club
- 20.01.23 Switzerland Aarau @ KiFF
- 21.01.23 Germany Munich @ Backstage
- 22.01.23 Austria Vienna @ Flex Hall
- 24.01.23 Czech Republic Prague @ Futurum
- 25.01.23 Poland Wroclaw @ Akademia Club
- 26.01.23 Germany Leipzig @ Naumanns
- 27.01.23 Germany Hamburg @ Bahnhof Pauli
- 28.01.23 Sweden Gothenburg @ High 5ive Winter Fest
- 29.01.23 Denmark Copenhagen @ Hotel Cecil
- 30.01.23 Germany Berlin @ Hole44
- 31.01.23 Germany Nuremberg @ Z-Bau
- 01.02.23 Germany Karlsruhe @ Die Stadtmitte