Love songs and drum machines…
The Shallow Graves slunk into the scene in 2005, a brooding German goth duo conjured from the darkened minds of Julian Aust and Christian Rossbach. Veterans of Velinas and Madre Del Vizio, they struck a balance between familiar gloom and fresh grit, a nod to a bygone era while dragging their sound kicking and screaming into the now. Aust’s vocals clawed through the shadows, while Rossbach’s riffs reverberated with menace. Together, they built something both brooding and bold, a bitter brew of past and present that lingered like smoke in the cold Berlin air.
Their latest single, Your Ghost, heralds the arrival of their third full-length album, These Hands Let Go. The song is a dark dose of what The Shallow Graves do best—gritty, gravelly vocals that sound like they’ve clawed their way out of the crypt, echoing against crushing electronic drums and shimmering, reverb-drenched guitars as gossamer as dew on a spiderweb. The bass throbs like a pulse, while the lyrics cut deep, serving up musings on the delicate dance between love and loss, life and death.
Your Ghost is no hollow spectre—it’s the band’s eerie essence in full form, beckoning listeners to a place where past meets present, and the shadows never quite let go. Aust and Rossbach may be playing in the graveyard, but their sound is very much alive, a dark flame flickering in the fog.
Watch the black-and-white video slink through the shadows, twisting time and space like a half-remembered nightmare. It splices snippets of vintage films—German expressionism’s jagged edges meet the hazy cool of French New Wave. The whole thing feels like a séance in celluloid, a ghostly communion where death isn’t the end, just another door to knock on.
The Shallow Graves began their journey with the well-received demo Those Hollow Eyes, featuring tracks like the fast-paced The Second Chamber, the moody In the House of Tomorrow, and the mournful Brickbats and High Heels. This led to appearances on compilations such as Darkness Before Dawn Vol I, Pagan Love Songs Vol II, and Goth Is What You Make It. They also contributed to the U.S. horror thriller From A Place Of Darkness and performed live once, supporting Vendemmian at Berlin’s Sex and Drugs and Drum Machines Festival in 2008.
In 2013, the duo released their first full-length album, Smoke-Screen For Your Broken Dream (Echozone). This was followed by 2017’s Given Out Of Hand and Breathing Prayers and Echoes of Goodbyes (Wave Records).
In 2023, MMXXIII 1 and MMXXIII 2 promo albums solidified their style—gravelly vocals, electronic drums, reverb-drenched guitars, and poetic lyrics on life, love, and loss. Released on cassette by Violet Hour Transmissions in 2024, These Hands Let Go releases October 31, 2024.
Listen to Your Ghost below or order here.
W0174 – The Shallow Graves “These Hands Let Go” by Wave Records
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