Graveyard “Fever” Album Review by Antoine Karam

Oct 5, 2026

Few Swedish rock bands have aged as unpredictably as Graveyard. Formed in Gothenburg in 2006, the group built its name on the blues-drenched swagger of Hisingen Blues, climbed to two number-one albums at home, split in 2016 and returned in 2018 with Peace. Their last record, Six, arrived three years ago in a gloomier, more introverted mood that left part of the audience waiting for the fire to come back. Fever is the answer, the seventh album and the first to land after guitarist Jonatan Larocca Ramm announced his exit in June, which leaves Joakim Nilsson as the only continuously active founding member. A band with that much history could have wobbled. Instead, it sounds like it has something to prove.

The attitude is stated in the band’s own words: “No outside producer. No detours.” That economy defines the record. Nine songs fit into just over 38 minutes, only the closer passes five, and Pelle Gunnerfeldt, the mixer known for the raw energy he brought to The Hives, Refused and Viagra Boys, keeps the sound dry and forward instead of polished. “Back From The Grave” sets the temperature at once with a slow, Sabbath-sized groove, and “Tongue Tied”, “Room Tempered” and “A Means To An End” follow with hard rock that wastes no time on preamble. The title works as a thermometer more than a concept: the fuzz is turned up, the tempos stay restless and the band sounds like it is playing in one room, together.

What keeps the heat from becoming monotony is the way the band lets the blues leak back in. “Time To Tell” borrows the rolling grandeur of Creedence Clearwater Revival, and its bass-led groove is where Truls Mörck and drummer Oskar Bergenheim show how much of Graveyard’s character lives in the rhythm section rather than in the riffs. “A Better Cut (Note To Self)” and “Year Of The Horse” keep the energy high without leaning on nostalgia, while “Don’t Shoot!” returns to the slower, soulful ground that made Hisingen Blues matter. Nilsson‘s voice remains the band’s most recognizable instrument, and here it sounds less weary than on Six, more willing to snarl than to sigh.

Not every choice lands. The middle of the tracklist runs on a similar tempo and a similar kind of riff, and a few songs ask to be admired for their drive rather than remembered for a hook. Then there is “Dead Note”, a closer of 6:53 that carries slow, blues-soaked anger and gives the record its only real exhale. Some listeners will hear a necessary comedown, others a finale that lingers one verse too long. I lean toward the first view, because the song pays off the title: after eight songs of burning, it is the sound of the temperature finally breaking. The striking cover by Dutch artist Maarten Donders, whose work has been showcased at Roadburn, and the mastering by Robin Schmidt at 24-96 Mastering complete a package that looks and sounds more direct than anything since the band’s early years.

Taken as a whole, Fever is a confident course correction rather than a reinvention. Graveyard has traded the shadows of Six for fuzz, momentum and a rhythm section that sounds happy to be loud again, and it has done so without abandoning the blues that gave the band its soul. It does not reach the compositional peak of Hisingen Blues, and its middle stretch could use a sharper edge, but the sequencing is smart and the best songs are among the strongest the band has written in a decade. For longtime fans it feels like a homecoming; for newcomers it is a lean, accessible entry point.

My favorite tracks are “Back From The Grave”, “Time To Tell” and “Dead Note”. The opener is the quickest way to understand what the band is after, “Time To Tell” is the best argument for the rhythm section, and “Dead Note” is the one that stays in your head after the last note fades. Worth noting too: the touring cycle begins with a co-headline run through Scandinavia with Blues Pills, followed by dates across Europe and the UK in 2027, and this is a record that was clearly built for a loud room.

Get your copy here: https://www.nuclearblast.com/products/graveyard-fever-cd

Rating: 8/10