Review: Bury Your Dead - Bury Your Dead
Ever heard the term too much, too fast? Well this is definitely the case here. I should state for the record that I am a huge fan of this band, anyone who is a fan of breakdown’s doesn’t really have a choice, and I am a fan of breakdowns. A year or so ago the future of this band was very much in question, they lost their singer, dropped off tours if I recall. Their website went many months with no updates, their replacement singer left too, their guitar player got mugged and beat up. Then out of nowhere the news a permanent new singer and a new self-titled record shows up and the anticipation began.
For this record, forget everything you knew about Bury Your Dead, but then remember it later. Lets talk about Myke for a second. When Underoath acquired Spencer as their new “screamer” it enhanced that band. He was different than the old singer, more range, more power, more passion and was generally a better fit for their sound. Which is why I cannot understand why BYD got a guy that sounds almost exactly the same as their old singer. Same power, same range, same passion, nothing exciting about him at all, kind of like this album, which makes him a good fit … I guess.
Musically, BYD have really broadened their horizons. Opposed to their previous work of metal tinged, breakdown laden hard-core. They have introduced a gigantic melodic element. The breakdowns are still there, but used more as pinnacle of a song, instead of basing the piece on breakdowns. These songs appear to have been written with the melody in mind. The difference with Myke here is that he can scream on pitch and maintain ferocity in those melodies. Overall, these are probably the best songs that the band has ever written. In order to do so they’ve had to make some compromises that turn me off. They have slowed their tempos way down, cut down chugginess to a third of previous records and in the exploration of this new sound have failed to release an album where the tracks are all some what diverse. And lets not forget WHERE ARE THE BREAKDOWNS!! When it comes to these guys, I am a breakdown junky and now I’m in withdrawl.
This album isn’t terrible, but it’s nothing to sing about either. I was really excited for this album and I wasn’t expecting something this different from their original sound. Although, with a new a singer, a lot of things change. This album isn’t great, but I’m not going to give up on these guys. They were amazing before this and their new sound has a lot of potential. I think they just need to get comfortable in their own shoes.
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