Graven Image: Discography 12"

Graven Image: Discography 12"


Tags: · 80s · hardcore · hardcore punk · hcpmf · reissues · richmond · USHC
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$19.00
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In the summer of 1982, an already burgeoning scene in Richmond, VA saw the arrival of some new blood in the form of GRAVEN IMAGE. Taking both inspiration and influence from the hardcore punk explosion that was well underway all over the world, these youngsters who met at a local skate ramp channeled their aggression through the no bullshit hardcore punk that they churned out in their few years of existence. Having shared the stage with a veritable who's who of punk at the time (BAD BRAINS, MINOR THREAT, NECROS, C.O.C., VOID, THE FU's, etc) throughout the Mid-Atlantic, the band's explosive live performance fronted by the powerful and charismatic Dwayne Curd was evidence that they could hold their own when billed with the aforementioned titans of the genre. "THE STUDIO SESSIONS: '82-'83" features the entirety of GI's recorded studio output - first from the "YOUR SKULL IS MY BOWL" session circa fall of 1982 that became the extremely rare and sought after split tape with fellow local juvenile upstarts HONOR ROLE, and lastly from the "KICKED OUT OF THE SCENE" EP session that was recorded in 1983 and released the following year, plus some previously unreleased tracks from each of the studio outings that yielded these 22 tracks of USHC fury! Carefully transferred and restored from the original reels, each record comes with a 12 page booklet chock full of photos, flyers and even some liner notes from guitarist Nick Smilek and drummer Joey Boisineau. For admirers of early American Hardcore and not much else.


Our take: Beach Impediment Records compiles the complete studio recordings of 80s Richmond, Virginia hardcore band Graven Image. The two studio sessions collected here originally appeared on the Your Skull Is My Bowl split cassette with Honor Role (1982) and the Kicked Out of the Scene 7” EP (1983), and there are a few outtakes from each session as well. Having grown up in Virginia, Graven Image has been on my radar for a very long time. I’ve always enjoyed their two releases, but this collection presents the band in the best possible light and has given me a much deeper appreciation for them. Graven Image might not have had the chops of Minor Threat or the Bad Brains, but they had some great songs, including my favorite, “My World,” which the band contributed to the We Got Power: Party or Go Home compilation, and uses one of my favorite musical tricks, the guitar hook composed entirely of harmonics (see also the Fall’s “Who Makes the Nazis”). Graven Image sound focused for a young band who didn’t seem to aspire to (or at least didn’t reach) a national level, avoiding ill-considered stylistic experimentation in favor of full-bore US-style hardcore heavy on the straight beats, power chords, and shouted vocals. Rather than just dabblers, they were key participants in the hardcore subculture, and one reason Beach Impediment’s presentation of this material so powerful is because it emphasizes how embedded Graven Image was in this world, with its expansive booklet full of flyers, photos, and other artifacts from the era. As Beach Impediment’s description states, “For admirers of early American Hardcore and not much else.”