Label - Music for Nations
Release Date- 31st March 2023
Words- Tony Bliss
With the groundswell of British metal talent forever growing and, of recent years at least, in perpetually rude health, it is baffling that so few have managed to take a stranglehold internationally, and the name of our next globe-trotting flag bearer is anyone's guess. Here at home however, with the likes of Bring Me The Horizon and Architects having long since made a sizable dent in the UK mainstream, the door is ajar for any band worthy enough to step through behind them, and only a fool would bet against Bury Tomorrow - now seven albums deep and as popular as ever, this is a band that really look to be on the verge of something. On this evidence however, they won’t be climbing the ladder by pandering to the radio crowd or flirting with cross-over appeal - The Seventh Sign is still fucking savage.
Such an integral part of their sound, the departure of guitarist/vocalist Jason Cameron might have rung the death knell for lesser bands, however, Bury Tomorrow attack these songs with the gusto of a band half their age and brimming with ideas and belly fire. Dropping euphoric metalcore A-bombs throughout, the rich depth of sound and banging metallic punch from tracks such as recent single ‘Boltcutter’, or the stunning, deathly tour-de-force ‘Forced Divide’ evoke such a hair-blown-back reaction that, even with the slickly textured tunage on display, there is no doubting that Bury Tomorrow have little interest in taking their foot off the accelerator.
Indeed, the anthemic bombast of a song like ‘Wrath’, with all its string-led atmospherics and propulsive melody, is still dominated by Dani Winter-Bates’ blood-spitting shriek, whereas the crunching melo-death blows of ‘Care’, ‘Abandon Us’ and the opening title track see the band ramping up the violence to startling effect whilst never straying too far from that towering, arena baiting sense of melody that is pitched flawlessly throughout (tell me you can’t see ‘Majesty’ being sung back to the band in a packed-out Ally Pally).
It’s true therefore that this is a band playing entirely to their strengths, and although the background electronics and polished ambience may play a slightly bigger role than in their previous work, there is very little that’s transformational about The Seventh Sun - at least not superficially. Instead, everything just feels like a levelling up, with Bury Tomorrow redefining themselves not so much in sound but in spirit and attack, embracing the explosive power of their well-tested metalcore blueprint and putting together their most lethally crafted set of songs yet. Their career path from here may still remain to be seen, but one thing is clear - this is a fearsome next step from a band that flat-out refuses to compromise on making the music they love.
8/10
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