Not that this album isn't massive already. Dig Me No Grave is a Russian quintet, dedicated to the vintage and traditional approach to the genre. That obviously means: punishing riffs, pounding drums and a growling voice with a decent amount of tempo changes and variation. It reminds me a lot of some of the works on those brilliant 'Death Is Just The Beginning' compilations from Nuclear Blast, namely Hypocrisy, Mortification, Benediction, Suffocation and so on.
The songs follow each other perfectly, even to the point where it's hard to make out when one song is done and another one begins. This gives the whole a great flow and a highly enjoyable drive. My favorite tracks are 'Reptile' and 'Mortician', but that's quite a difficult choice to make. In fact, all the songs are excellent pieces of old school death metal, written in similar fashion and thus sounding quite similar, which of course doesn't have to be a problem. 'Shrine Of Blasphemy' and 'Lost In The Depths' incorporate some complicated drums patterns, which enhances the level of songwriting. 'Forbidden' speeds up the whole thing to grinding proportions.
Yet, for the main part, this is perfect headbanging music as well as moshpit-inducing sonic violence. It reminds me most of a time when death metal was about to evolve into grindcore, technical death and a more melodic approach. Dig Me No Grave has all of these elements but none of them comes to the foreground, resulting in a blast of an old school album. So do I recommend it? Well, of course I do, it's my job to recommend decent albums and this obviously is one of them, a great one even.
Serge