Review by Rosh on December 25, 2021.

Spiral Grave is a project made up of the three surviving members of seminal Maryland doom metal band Iron Man's final lineup, as well as the guitarist of sludge/stoner metal band Lord. In the passing of a staple doom guitarist like Alfred Morris III, it's quite cool to see a new venture out there carrying on his gargantuan sounding legacy, composed by some of his last bandmates. It may only be two songs long, but damn it all, this single/EP is an absolute sledgehammer of a release, and is in many ways the true, gritty doom release I'd been waiting for from the veterans of the style. This brief CD feels so confidently executed and continues the sound developed on "South Of The Earth", which was already one of my favorite Iron Man records.

So, speaking of the Iron Man discography, I had ordered a remastered Shadow Kingdom Records copy of "The Passage", to go along with my original Hellhound Records copy (I often like to collect different versions of my favorite releases by my favorite bands). Turned out that "Iron" Lou Strachan, bassist of this band and the final lineup of Iron Man, was the eBay seller who'd listed the CD. He included this promo CD in a red digisleeve in the package, and I immediately checked it out after seeing the lineup on Metal Archives. I got back to him, told him I absolutely loved it, and that I was also happy to own the remaster of the Iron Man album, and we talked doom for a while. That was back in February 2021, but I have not been able to forget Spiral Grave and this badass single/EP in the months since then.

This is the kind of doom metal that really inspires me due to how much I connect with it. It's down to earth, working man's kind of shit. Both tracks here feel along the lines of classic Saint Vitus while being compositionally different - it has more to do with the burned out, rough-around-the-edges energy (or lack thereof). The bass is loud and clangs along right beneath the grooving but punishing guitar, and "Screaming" Mad Dee became my one of my favorite doom metal singers due to the title track of this release and the one from "South Of The Earth".

The title track of Nothing is thematically nihilistic, true to its title, but musically it breathes pissed-off-ness and the music really drives, yet the guitars do exhibit some milder moments, making this song a brilliantly engineered doom metal trek. Lyrically, I especially like the line "Nothing, is what it seems! Nothing, is too extreme!" Really suits the way you feel when life gets to be a living hell, or you're just stuck in a frustrating rut and you'll try anything to break out. 'Walking Talking Dead Man' isn't as varied as the first tune, but it's very catchy and is just as much of a sledgehammer of a track. Really thoroughly digging both songs - few projects can do this much with just two songs, especially with a style as (relatively) bare-bones as traditional doom metal.

I can't wait for a full-length from this doom metal outfit, Spiral Grave. It's gonna be at least as good as "South Of The Earth" from 2013 was, I'm calling it now. This release is simply a perfect snippet of music for the style it offers, despite being so short. It's a heavy hitter, for me at least.

Rating: 10 out of 10