Album Review: Bury Tomorrow – Black Flame

It’s easy enough to be a heavy band. Throw in some distorted guitars, some double bass and blast beat drumming, a chunky bass line here and there, some guttural growls and high-pitched screams, and VOILA! You have a heavy band. The difficult part is setting yourselves apart from every other band out there trying to aim for the same old standard achievement. Sometimes it takes some major alterations to break the mold, and sometimes it’s just finding those subtle nuances that can put you in a musical realm all of your own. It’s knowing when, where, why, and how to do such things that truly makes the most powerful impact on your overall heavy sound. Bury Tomorrow have always been a heavier band, but one that has seemingly strived to have a sound all of their own. Sure, one could argue that on the surface they’re simply a metalcore band, but if you pay just a little more attention you could see that there’s so much more to these UK heavy hitters. With each and every album the group has released you can hear the tweaks the band has made to push for something unique, while remaining true to their metalcore roots. And that sentiment is all the more clearer with their upcoming release entitled, Black Flame. The first album under the group’s new home, Music For Nations/Sony Music, Black Flame promises to be  Bury Tomorrow’s most diverse and innovative album to date.

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Genre: Melodic Metalcore | Metalcore
Label: Music For Nations/Sony Music
Release: July 13, 2018
Connect: Facebook | Twitter
Purchase: iTunes | Google Play
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The first taste of the new album came with the titular track, “Black Flame”. For all intents and purposes this track gives the listener a strong sense of the Bury Tomorrow of the past while being anything but rehashed material. The song gave the fans of old that thick groove layered with an almost brash intensity that they’ve always loved. A couple of the most notable changes were that this track seemed to me almost more melodic that songs on previous releases, and the most in your face alteration was the electronic tinged outro (a risk the band had never taken before in any shape or form, but paid of in spades). Multiple layered samples with Daniel Winter-Bates signature (he truly has one of the most unexampled voices in the game today) screams strewn throughout. The song truly has something for fans of new and old, and forced the world to feel the first wave of heat from Black Flame.

Bury Tomorrow – Black Flame (Official Video)

Bury Tomorrow – Black Flame (Official Video) New album Black Flame OUT NOW! – http://smarturl.it/BT_BlackFlame Listen On Spotify – http://smarturl.it/BT_OfficialPL Claim your flame here – http://smarturl.it/BT5Map Follow Bury Tomorrow: Facebook – http://smarturl.it/BT_FB Instagram – http://smarturl.it/BT_IG Twitter – http://smarturl.it/BT_TW Website – http://smarturl.it/BT5Map Lyrics Here I stand, alone, with hate.Here I stand, too long, too late.All I know, is you will leave us all.Here I stand, alone, to fall.

“My Revenge” is sure to be a fan favorite not only from Black Flame, but from any Bury Tomorrow release yet. The song begins with a lone guitar smoothly plucking singular notes then crashes down hard with energetic instrumentation and Jason Cameron’s incredibly powerful clean vocals. The entire group of Bury Tomorrow are an absolutely and unbelievably talented group of musicians, but their (not so) secret weapon and what truly sets them apart from so many of their peers are their two vocalists. Through the intro, which also acts as the chorus, the listener is lead into a verse which has a thrashy, almost punk feel to it. This track shows Daniel Winter-Bates adding new talents to his repertoire by pushing his vocals further than he has ever before. His lows hit depths never heard before from him, and his highs run the risk of shattering each and every window in your home (you won’t mind with how amazing this song/album is). The bridge is a harmonious palm muted wonder accented by unreal talent from lead guitarist Kristan Dawson hammering a wondrous solo like fingering of his strings. The song slowly fades into silence leaving the listeners eardrums rattling and craving for more.

“Knife Of Gold” could be one of Bury Tomorrow’s heaviest tracks (if not the heaviest) yet. The song smashes through the airwaves with an unparalleled ferocity that’ll leave the ground around shaking to the point of it feeling like it will all crash down beneath you. Daniel Winter-Bates’ high pitched scream is unbelievably vicious as it soars over the ballistic instrumentation. The song is riddled with both blast beats galore, and yet maintains the groups signature melodic sound. The song seems to speak of the higher statured folks of life who try to use their wealth and influence to make life harder for any of those they deem below themselves, and to those who refuse to let those assholes take control of what they stand for and everything they hold so dear. Jason Cameron’s almost haunting singing during the chorus is enough to make any of those that think their better than anyone else cower and run for the hills. The overall intensity of both the musicianship and lyrics make “Knife Of Gold” a force to be reckoned with.

Bury Tomorrow – Knife of Gold (Official Video)

Bury Tomorrow – Knife Of Gold (Official Video) New album Black Flame OUT NOW! – http://smarturl.it/BT_BlackFlame Listen On Spotify – http://smarturl.it/BT_OfficialPL Claim your flame here – http://smarturl.it/BT5Map Follow Bury Tomorrow: Facebook – http://smarturl.it/BT_FB Instagram – http://smarturl.it/BT_IG Twitter – http://smarturl.it/BT_TW Website – http://smarturl.it/BT5Map Lyrics We’ve seen the fall of an empire, with a dismantled throne.

The only track that could possibly match the overall rage of “Knife Of Gold” would be the (almost) equally vehement “Stormbringer”. The title alone speaks to the impassioned force which is about to be conveyed upon the listener.  Insanely fast paced drumming, guitar, and bass are put forth as an onslaught of sound during the verse leaving you with a sweat soaked sense of anger forcing adrenaline through your entire being. The chorus brings back that melody with a slowed down, head banging delivery. Music has an incredible power of taking control of the listener and making them feel something that isn’t actually going on around them at the present time. At the risk of sounding cheesy, a storm is exactly what this track instills within anyone who will listen to it. At the end of the song your left with what could only be described as what one would feel/witness in the aftermath of that storm. The world as you know it has been destroyed in a whirlwind of musical flames, and now it is time to begin a new.

“Peacekeeper” shows the band embracing a purely melodic metalcore sound without losing the slightest bit of fierce power or emotion. There’s almost nothing this band cannot accomplish and almost no boundary (especially in the world of metalcore) that they can’t cross without absolute excellence, but this is where Bury Tomorrow truly shine. The song in both verse and chorus is extremely rhythmic yet retains every bit of heaviness. The song at times could almost make the listener even simply tap their foot and nod their head to the music in times when a kicking and punching mosh pit is not allowed. The bridge brings the intensity down to a much softer tone with an incredible set of subtle drumming and singular notes from both guitarists. This leads into a soaring wave of both instruments and Daniel Winter-Bates screaming with incredible passion and culminates with screams, guitars, and samples which sound as if they’re being played at a distance if for nothing else but to amp up their importance.

It truly is a difficult thing to set your band apart from so many other metalcore bands out there. There seems to be a cookie-cutter recipe in which so many groups base their sound that at times one Is lead to believe the genre has become stagnant in its ways. At times it seems as if that if you’ve heard one metalcore band, you’ve heard em all. It’s those groups that push past that notion and any boundaries that one is lead to believe applies to the genre that give the fans hope that it is still entirely strong and alive. Bury Tomorrow have always been one of those rare groups that never want to become complacent in the uninspired ways many others have, and therefore have always been one of the most progressive thinking and innovative bands out there. With each and every album they strive to make something new without alienating who they’ve always been, and this is something that never goes unnoticed. The same can be said for Black Flame. Yet again the band has brought something entirely new and different to the table and created something never heard from them before. This is sure to be a fan favorite not only from the band, but from metalcore in general.