Album Review: Jade - Mysteries Of A Flowery Dream
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Jade a band I’m somewhat familiar with, having originally come to my attention back in 2022 when they released their first album, The Pacification Of Death, a record that garnered substantial acclaim and many a gleeful face turned in their direction. Formed not too long ago Jade initially comprised of members across Germany and Spain though by taking on a new drummer last year, Jade are a thoroughly Spanish band through and through now. Their first Demo released back in 2018 but it would be four years before they’d begin unleashing Singles in the run up to that aforementioned first studio album. Following heaps of praise the band eventually worked alongside fellow Spanish act Sanctuarium where they together released a Split. But now, one year later and on their second album (or their third significant release) the band are evidently comfortable with Pulverised Records who once again manage the distribution of Jade’s efforts. Due out May 9th, Mysteries Of A Flowery Dream is my first real exposure to what these guys are capable of and is sported by wondrous art from the ever-gifted Adam Burke whose portfolio spans Acephalix, Hooded Menace, Portrait and more. Let’s dive in to Jade’s second album.
It’s a steady start to the record, the band aren’t launching into anything overtly volcanic right from the outset. It’s worth mentioning Jade are considered “atmospheric death metal” and thus do they live up to that moniker, for their riffs already harbour sweeping vistas alongside vocals that seethe and erupt as if from increasing number of fissures. As introductions go, the band do well to immerse us first before hitting us with the full might of their volleys. What is fascinating regarding Jade’s assault though is whilst their soundscape is clearly destructive in nature, it’s from the kind that will leave you bludgeoned by its conclusion. The band’s guitar attack is much more enveloping and encroaching than death metal’s typically blunt force impact, the fact that their guitar tone is lighter though carries all the sheen of a scythe makes a great difference. It certainly aids that atmospheric quality wherein Jade have filled in every feasible escape for their sound to escape, leaving us alone exclusively with their performance.
Whilst the band are delivering great swathes of energy and you can feel the momentum driving their songwriting, the band clearly aren’t here to just pummel you into the earth. The production is sublime and could have easily tweaked their sound enough to deliver a more crushing weight, however Jade’s aesthetic is somewhat ethereal as if we were to view their performance through crystal. You can still perceive them as you do any other band but you can almost view them many times over simultaneously since they almost seem refracted, experienced through a multitude of prisms. This feels especially prevalent considering their tendency for longer tracks and thus must incorporate songwriting breaks up the flow of tireless onslaught. This aesthetic therefore wedges Jade off from the slew of more conventional death metal released today. With that said, they’ll be pulling off these more intricate licks and riff sequences all the while assailing you with vicious blast beats and shrieking vocal deliveries. Listening to Mysteries Of A Flowery Dream is therefore akin to being plunged into Absolute Zero temperatures. You’re physically stabbed by something transient.
I think one of Jade’s more prominent distinctions has to its vocal implementations. The primary delivery is nearly gothic, as one hears Paradise Lost’s Nick Holmes, sporting that gravelly yet morose undertone whilst their intangible songwriting revolves round and round. There’s great feeling evoked herein without them necessarily hammering down on us which I feel was key. The band’s songwriting details how they aren’t looking to destroy your senses and once again, the vocals, like all other element here, prove that point by simply letting you enjoy the ride. But then you have a secondary vocal style that’s much more ethereal, as if picking it up across great chasms of time, something that is and yet is not present. These vocals especially inject excellent otherness into Jade’s work as they help solidify that dreaming quality their riffs evoke.
I feel like the drums could be easily overlooked across a record that does, and rightly so, have such an abundance of quality to offer. Given the band’s ability to write longer tracks without our engagement waning, it makes sense their drums also shouldn’t be the typical patterns associated with extreme metal. Though blast beats have been covered, Jade’s drumming is extremely fluidic for there will hardly be thirty seconds gone by before the band undergo a change in songwriting that necessitates the drums to develop from their present form. Whether this is something steadier and thus requiring a minimalist approach or a far more bombastic spray of strikes across the full kit entirely depends on where Jade are in the moment. In fact, outright aggression, much like the record as a whole, does seem to be an afterthought as the band thoroughly commit to that atmospherically leaning quality.
In conclusion, Mysteries Of A Flowery Dream is this cerebral, effervescent styled record that seeks to totally consume you without such entrapping coming off as suffocating. The band clearly wished this since the strength is present in droves, but at no point does it inch close to overwhelming. People looking to Jade, hoping for a blisteringly heavy release, won’t receive that as this is more ethereally-styled death metal. It holds your hand a little more but not to a great extent, guiding you through their soundscape whilst still letting loose now and again. But I firmly understand the allure Jade have already garnered with legions of fans, there’s something incorporeal to their songwriting, as if traversing vast planes of space from some far off realm. It’s the kind of record you can easily put on and still receive a great helping of adrenaline though their performance is steeped in fright and madness, coated with silk. Jade are now a band I’ll thoroughly watch out for.
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