2015 saw Graves release their next, and currently latest, EP, ‘Fides Ad Nauseam’. Nine songs somehow stretch to some 12 minutes in total length, due primarily to “Suffer” having an epic length of 3:31. Here was a band really getting to grips with their brutal onslaught, hanging around long enough to cause serious damage to the eardrums without ever really outstaying their welcome. It is clean and sharp, yet “Suffer” clearly demonstrates here is a band who have a very strong idea indeed of what they are trying to achieve who understand the need for dynamics and different pace. This slows down at times to doom and almost sludge speed, yet still with abrasive vocals and the impression that the band are just marking time until they are ready to let loose the hounds once more.
Not long after this Graves ceased to operate, and Josh started a new band, Bridge Burner, with a slightly different approach. Happily for us Kiwi metalheads, both bands are now touring and it is not unusual for Josh to play a set with one band and then follow it up immediately with a set from the other. Their mix of grind and hardcore is full on, yet somehow is also polished and highly addictive. Here is/was a band who are stretching the boundaries of extreme metal and creating something which surely should be finding fans well outside their home geographical base. Yet again this is available from the band on vinyl, or can be downloaded free of charge from their Bandcamp site. Anyone who wants music to lose their hearing to need to discover the brutal direct majesty which is Graves.
Rating: 8/10
