Does Kam Lee ever get bored of singing in death metal bands? Sure, there is a slight sonic variation between some of them, but for the most part, it is all the same posturing, guttural approach and identical-to-quite-similar subject matter.  There are different people involved in these projects, which alone may be a cause for the continuation of this practice but sonically the audience is being treated to a similar dish over and over and over. Then again, we don’t see too many people complaining, so who are we to argue the validity of this EP? As conformingly played as it is, Broken Gravestones still groove the sub bass notes like the best and the worst of ‘em. The bar was apparently lowered long ago.

The difference between Broken Gravestones and Bone Gnawer (Lee’s other cooler project) is minimal. Same chunk. Same style. Same tempo. Of the two, Broken Gravestones is less groovy and lyrically, far less humorous. It could be argued that Broken Gravestones takes a more minimal approach, with riffs that lack all the nuance of well-developed ideas and whole songs that go without the catchy parts provided by a Swedish backing band that knows about hooks. Lee is his same self, and we love him just for that; spewing short breaths of gore he may not get points for having a unique approach, but no one can argue that his vocals embody the nastiness of the style.  
Along for the ride are three Spaniards, two of which are part of the death metal band Gruesome Stuff Relish. With vocals recorded in Orlando and the music registered in Spain, it is surprising how well these tracks seem to have been put together. Had the band actually been able to record at the same location, it is very likely that the results would have been the same. If Let Sleeping Corpses Lie fails it is not because it is not cohesive, but because musically, it lacks the charisma and the power of quality death metal. As back to basics as much of the music that involves Lee usually is, Broken Gravestones are not much more than a repetition, albeit, this time around the songs are less graceful, if that is at all a word that can be applied to the style.

Tagged at the end are two demo versions of the already included “The Rising Dead” and “Zombies Don’t Run”.  Perhaps just a little more turgid, the music here remains untouched. It is Lee’s performance that marks the difference. On top of offering his famous guttural burps, he adds some viscosity via what sounds like a frog-like attempt to sound big. It is almost as if Lee was vocalizing under his breath. It is far from groundbreaking, but much more personalized than his typical mumbo on top of average death metal.

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Written by Ignacio Brown

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