Bury Tomorrow, Black Flame - album review
Hampshire lads Bury Tomorrow have been part of the modern British metal furniture for some time now.
Five albums in, and this record shows a maturity, confidence and ability that these guys have been simmering away nicely for a while now.
Thundering percussion, skin-ripping riffs and a nice mix of scratch and clean vocals. They’re all ingredients fans will be used to long before now. There is something in the production here though that projects an assuredness in what they are doing.
Opener No Less Violent is slick and polished, its thundering nature deliciously aggy with the rising and falling melodies in the chorus relieving the tension of the crashing percussion throughout the rest of its path.
The title track is a little poppier, but the fury is still present. While perhaps being more radio friendly than others around it, it almost contains two or three songs within its lifespan. The ferocity of Daniel Winter-Bates’ piercing verses here is the best segment, although the electro outro is pretty neat too.
There is almost a Slipknot quality to the scorching guitars of More Than Mortal. Underpinned by some pretty hard pedal work from drummer Adam Jackson it slaps left, right and centre on the spinal cord. The vocals join in with this vibe too in Overcast. A swaying chorus provides a brief rest from the in-your-face verses, and the song is at its finest when we are swirled around in the fire and brimstone of these interlocking segments. “This is murder” screams Winter-Bates, but he’s not talking about the music thankfully.
There’s a better sound to this record than many previous recordings, it feels more complete and utterly encompassing. It would be wrong to call it grown up, but more cocky and established definitely.
It mostly works, there are segments of Knife Of Gold that feel crowbarred in together and a little chalk and cheese. The same with a few vocal parts in The Age.
But for the most part, this is modern melodic metal mastery – a fine return for the band.
Rating: 7/10
Bury Tomorrow are in Birmingham’s HMV store tonight at 5.30pm signing copies of the new record for fans. They are then back in Birmingham on December 12 for a gig at the O2 Institute
