Chords of the Grave is essentially the re-release of demos by four different death metal bands. Obliteration starts the compilation off with a killer, brutal death metal sound. Despite not breaking much new ground, their classic American death metal growling and playing is done excellently with plenty of speed and blast beats and almost constant double bass beats. This band is now known as Deathlist and has an album out called Severed .
Evisceration is next with three songs of average death metal with a lot of double bass.
The growling vocals are somewhat reminiscent of Crimson Thorn or Metanoia, though not as low. Unfortunately, the production is not as good as the other three bands, and the songs tend to just grind along without going anywhere. I hate to discount the band, and I would love to hear them progress, but these three tracks lack anything to make them stand out. The third band, Disencumbrance, offers three songs of great intense death metal. The vocals switch between lower and higher death growls.