Reviews: SAT396
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We have avidly followed and written about the occult musical proceedings of the Russian death metal band Dig Me No Grave ever since discovering their Immemorial Curse album in 2017, which then led us back to their preceding full-length debut, 2014’s Cosmic Cult. They followed Immemorial Curse with a pair of EPs and their third album, Under the Pyramids, and now a new album entitled Necrocosmic Ceremony is set for co-release by Satanath Records (Georgia) and Metal Race Records (Russia) on June 15th.
Like many of their previous abominable works, Necrocosmic Ceremony draws inspiration from the abominable works of H.P. Lovecraft. The album’s central figure is “the Mad Arab” Abdul Alhazred, a worshipper of Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu and the reputed author of The Necronomicon. As Lovecraft explained in his posthumously published History of the Necronomicon, that evil grimoire was originally called Al Azif, an Arabic word that Lovecraft defined as “that nocturnal sound (made by insects) supposed to be the howling of demons.”
We mention this because today we’re premiering a riveting video for a mad, heart-pounding song off Necrocosmic Ceremony that puts these inspirations front and center: “Dreadful Memoirs“.
The feverishly vicious and rapidly swarming nature of this new song’s riffage does indeed conjure the frenzies of insects (flesh-eating ones) and the howling of demons. When the rabid riffing rises, it channels frightening ecstasies, and the monstrously imperious (but rhythmically calculated) depth-charge bellowing of vocalist Alexey adds a different dimension of horror.
Only the relative steadiness of the drumwork provides a lifeline for listeners (a head-hooking one) in the midst of the fretwork spasms, though the beats also eventually hammer and scamper. When they do, the riffing shifts, beginning to sound like the pumping of pistons, like some crazed train from hell eating up the rails. The music also dismally moans, but a clear-toned guitar solo surfaces like sorcery to create a different and more exotic dimension of madness.
It’s a thoroughly electrifying song, and one that invokes not only Lovecraft but also digs into the old veins of death metal mined by the likes of Sinister, Vader, and Morbid Angel.
The video, filmed and edited by Artem Mona, is also excellent. It combines scenes of the band executing the song (and their listeners) in a subterranean candle-lit bunker along with visions of the song’s protagonist working on his infamous text, spilling blood, communing with hideous forces, and then attempting to destroy what he has enshrined in parchment.
https://www.nocleansinging.com/2025/05/30/an-ncs-video-premiere-dig-me-no-grave-dreadful-memoirs/
Representing the Vologda Oblast death metal scene, Russian five-piece Dig Me No Grave consists of vocalist Alexey Rumyantsev (Sinister Void), guitarists Nikita Smirnov and Ivan Mishin, bassist Artem Basarab (Sinister Void), and drummer Vitaly Potapov. Since their formation back in 2010, the group has honed their craft of HP Lovecraft and other esoteric horror themed extreme music across a handful of EPs and full-lengths, while hitting regional festivals.
Like a face-to-face encounter with Cthulu, Dig Me No Grave keeps the undead growls and riffs alive on their upcoming fourth album Necrocosmic Ceremony, from the fan-favorites “Dreadful Memoirs” and “Xuthal of the Dusk” to the acoustic interlude of “The Key.”
We’re honored to be presenting an exclusive premiere of their new album, a colossally heavy death metal trek akin to Cannibal Corpse, Immolation, or Morbid Angel, mixed by Sergey Ivanov (Portfire, The Initiation).