Adorned Graves: Dream I | Without Any Kind Of Subtlety
(2025 – Soundmass)
How is it possible that just a handful of songs can blow your mind so much, and we’re still standing to write this review? (Although, to be honest, we’re doing it sitting in front of the computer). Adorned Graves has done it, folks. It’s like coming face to face with a huge truck on a lonely road at night, with no chance of grabbing hold of anything. That’s the feeling that “Dream I” ultimately leaves us with.
These guys have learned well the lesson of speed, strength, and fury that the legacy of Thrash Metal demands, and they demonstrate it in this EP titled “Dream I,” which is undoubtedly one of the best things I’ve heard lately.
No subtleties, as we say in Argentina, Adorned Graves is “straight to the point.” Don’t expect to find the typical “crossover” and strange mixtures, subtly mixed with modernist pretensions. Quite the contrary. The Germans chose the rough path, with powerful riffs, aggressive vocals, and an attitude that places them in the more traditional Metal zone.
Yes, Adorned Graves is primarily on the Thrash Metal side of things, but we can also detect certain influences from the most aggressive Heavy Metal imaginable. It’s as if we put Anthrax with Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, just so you understand what we’re talking about.
Much of this is achieved with Craig Cairns’ tremendous vocal performance, which gives tremendous power to every track on this EP. Of course, the strong foundation helps a lot, and the direction towards the more traditional side of metal reinforces this tremendous display of power.
“Argument From Reason” is the first expression of thrash and heavy metal that we hear as soon as the album begins. The galloping march and overloaded guitars right up front introduce us to the perfect metal storm that Adorned Graves proposes, with a fine line between old-school thrash metal and more traditional heavy metal.
With “Dream I,” the title track of this work, the intensity is even greater and features none other than Dale Thompson on vocals (Bride), giving the song its own unique stamp and reminding us of his old days with Bride, when his style was more visceral metal. Heavy metal suits Dale Thompson so well. How nice it would be to hear Bride return to their roots!
“Mourning Town” seems to go in a different direction, while maintaining the essence of heavy metal. At a galloping pace, Adorned Graves takes us down the path of more classic and melodic metal in a way. Even so, what never drops are the decibels at which the Germans choose to sound, and if you want an example of this, you can find it in “Legacy Of Worms,” another true lesson in real heavy metal.
An intriguing intro prepares us for Adorned Graves’ final display of fury. “The Abyss” aims to be one of the best tracks on the album, with one of those choruses that makes you want to raise your fist in the air. In an album where it’s very difficult for me to say what’s the best, this must be one of the best tracks on “Dream I,” but let’s just say that everything here is good. Okay, yes, we could say there is one negative point: that there are only five songs!
With “Dream I,” Adorned Graves takes us through a perfect metal storm. Then we discuss whether it’s thrash or traditional heavy metal. That’s unnecessary, I think. The important thing here is the speed and fury that the German guys bring to every song on the album.
The band consists of Cailen Leif Graever on guitars and backing vocals, Deafon Graever on drums and backing vocals, Lupus Veruta on bass, and Wout Wormser on lead guitar and overall production. The lead vocals are handled, as mentioned, by Craig Cairns (vocalist for Tailgunner) with the participation of Dale Thompson (Bride).
The cover of “Dream I” is curious. It looks more like a classic Power Metal band illustration (remember the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”?) than what you hear on this album. In any case, it’s out of the ordinary, you could say, and is complemented by the photographs on the inner sleeve, which we thought were excellent. The physical edition of this work is really worth it.
What can I say about the sound! It’s tremendously overwhelming. If the idea is to leave me deaf after listening to the album, I think they’ve achieved their goal. That doesn’t mean it’s all a bunch of noise, no, quite the opposite. The balance between the heavy, overloaded guitars and the hard-hitting percussion leaves little room for anything other than pure metal, delivered with the best sound possible. The result is overwhelming, as it should be.
As we said, Adorned Graves manages to move and stir us from within, that spirit of heavy metal that should never be lost.
And so you can see that we’re not lying, we’ve included a video of the song “Mourning Town” below, and as usual, the ways to contact the band, their social media, and where to get this excellent work, which, as we said, is well worth it!
https://www.facebook.com/AdornedGraves
https://www.instagram.com/adorned_graves
