Graves at Sea are an American

sludge Sludge is a semi-solid slurry that can be produced from a range of industrial processes, from water treatment, wastewater treatment or on-site sanitation systems. For example, it can be produced as a settled suspension obtained from conventiona ...

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band that was originally formed in 2002 by Nick Phit, Nathan Misterek, Roger Williams and Steve Klatz.

Biography

The band kickstarted their career by self-releasing a demo titled ''Documents of Grief'' in 2003. Following this, they vigorously toured and gained the attention of by Greg Anderson of

Southern Lord Records Southern Lord is an American heavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson. It specialized in experimental metal: particularly doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to include arti ...

and of the

drone metal Drone metal or drone doom is a style of heavy metal that melds the slow tempos and heaviness of doom metal with the long-duration tones of drone music. Drone metal is sometimes associated with post-metal or experimental metal. Characteristics Ty ...

band

Sunn O))) Sunn O))) (pronounced "sun") is an American experimental metal band formed in 1998 in Seattle, Washington. The band is known for their distinctive visual style and slow, heavy sound, which blends diverse genres including doom metal, drone, bla ...

, whose label released the band's single, ''Cirrhosis b/w Atavist Arise'' in 2004. In 2005, Graves at Sea released a

split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

with the

death-doom Death-doom is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double kick drumming of death metal. The genre emerged in the late-1980s and gained ...

band Asunder, which was followed by a line up change in 2007 when Misterek moved to

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

and Phit moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. In 2008, the band played two final shows with members Chiyo Nukaga of the band Noothgrush on drums and Miguel Veliz of Sourvein and The Roller on bass and broke up following this. Four years later in 2012 however, Graves at Sea reunited with Nukaga on drums and Greg Wilkinson of the band Brainoil on bass, but both would subsequently leave the band due to time constraints they faced. The band would go on to tour in Europe in 2013, followed by performances on the West Coast of the United States. In 2014, the band released a split album with the band Sourvein on Seventh Rule Records, followed by their second European tour, also with Sourvein, which included an appearance at

Roadburn Festival Roadburn Festival is an international music festival held in Tilburg, Netherlands every April since 1999. It was set up as a spin-off from the Roadburn music blog founded by Jurgen van den Brand and Walter Hoeijmakers. Originally focused on stone ...

. The band followed this by releasing an EP on Eolian Records titled ''This Place Is Poison'' followed by live performances at

Maryland Deathfest Maryland Deathfest (often abbreviated to MDF) is an annual American extreme metal festival founded in 2003 by Ryan Taylor and Evan Harting. The festival is held in Baltimore, Maryland during Memorial Day weekend, and it features many bands from ...

and other US festivals. The band eventually released their debut studio album titled ''The Curse That Is'' in 2016 on

Relapse Records Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists. History The label was ...

Members

Current members

* Nick Phit – guitars (2002–2008, 2012–present) * Nathan Misterek – vocals (2002–2008, 2012–present) * Jeff McGarrity – bass guitar (2013–present) * Bryan Sours – drums (2013–present)

Former members

* Tommy Cavizel – drums * Roger Williams – bass guitar (2002–2006) * Steve Klatz – drums (2002–2006) * Miguel Valiz – bass guitar (2007–2008) * Chiyo Nukaga – drums (2007–2008, 2012–2013) * Greg Wilkinson – bass guitar (2012–2013)

Discography

Studio albums

* ''The Curse That Is'' (2016)

Other releases

* ''Documents of Grief'' (demo, 2003) * ''Cirrhosis b/w Atavist Arise'' (single, 2004) * ''Graves at Sea/Asunder'' (split, 2005) * ''This Place Is Poison'' (EP, 2014) * ''Graves at Sea/Sourvein'' (split, 2014)

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Phoenix, Arizona American doom metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2002 American sludge metal musical groups Heavy metal musical groups from Arizona 2002 establishments in Arizona