How would I describe this? Something hidden underneath those buried treasures that were often under the radar from the realms of bands such as Blossom Toes, Leaf Hound, Second Hand, Luv Machine, Possessed, and Steel Mill? Well, a very unique and rare band coming from the sovereign country of Malta in the central Mediterranean between Sicily and the North African coast.
That band is Evil Grave. They were a very unique, very heavy band following in the footsteps of the Ozzy era from Black Sabbath with a dosage of progressive rock thrown into the mix with that delicious Maltese flavor in their work. These recordings, despite the quality they are in, are a wondrous ear-listening experiment. Death From Malta is quite the revelation for Lee Dorrian to discover this unknown band after a recent vacation he had in the islands.
He had spent the past three years searching for more and more information about who this band was. And this here is a special treat for any hard rock/metalhead who wants to go beyond the Sabbath sound. The band was formed back in December of 1971 out of the ashes of two local bands, The Stampede and The Beatmoors. When heavy and progressive music was still in its golden era, they took their name from two of Black Sabbath’s songs: ‘Evil Woman’ (which Sabbath covered Crow’s 1969 composition) and ‘Children of the Grave’.
Thus, Evil Grave was born. The line-up consisted of John E. Zammit-Pace on guitar and vocals, Twanny Darmanin on bass and vocals, Clive Simpson on keyboards and vocals, and Mario Barbara on drums, whom Martin Buhagiar took over after he replaced him. Listening to these recordings from 1973 to 1977, you get a sense of what this band could have been or could’ve been bigger than the four names in hard rock: Zeppelin, Sabbath, Purple, and Uriah Heep.
With the 14-minute opening of ‘Machinery’ that starts off with a distorted Dalek-like voice from the Doctor Who series, it had that science-fiction, fantasy story as if robots had taken over the society as the human race had already declined in a story from the Heavy Metal magazine before it goes into this galloping arrangement between guitars, bass, and drums, storming through the barricade and raising hell like no other!
It goes into some deeper, darker, cavernous, overture-like atmosphere as the distorted voice pulls you right into the underworld with no turning back. Meanwhile, the music shifts gears in this obscure prog-rock-like attack, which turns into not only the Malta sound but also the Spaghetti Western film score approach, but with a psychedelic attack!
‘Optica’, meanwhile, goes in for the late ‘60s garage rock single, straight out of the Nuggets compilation. It took me back to hearing Nuggets back when I was in college, and right off the bat, Evil Grave took nods to The Blues Project, The Seeds, Count Five, Blues Magoos, and the Electric Prunes, but with a bluesy, yet heavier orientation that will rattle the house in a nanosecond.
They return back to the genre on ‘Screaming Streaks of Light’ with its rumbling yet galloping return thanks to the ‘60s organ and blaring guitars in their rough quality, heading towards the progressive route and deeper into the Ladbroke Grove area, which speaks of High Tide’s ‘Sea Shanties’ period, while the ‘Jam Session’ sees Evil Grave channeling Sabbath’s ‘Electric Funeral’ in its organ-driven force.
Ascending through a cloud-like sky to honour the Brums—complete with soaring ‘Child in Time’ vocals—’Satan’s Death’ closes Death from Malta on a menacing note. It is a 3/4 waltz of pure Danse Macabre for Evil Grave, delivering a pounding, ominous texture that creates a tension you can cut with a knife.
