Bury Tomorrow - Portraits Review

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Tracklist:
1. Confessions
2. Evolution Of Self
3. You & I
4. Her Bones In The Sand
5. Repair The Lining
6. Casting Shapes
7. Factory Of Embers
8. Relief
9. Anything With Teeth
10. These Woods Aren't Safe For Us
11. Portraits

Release Date: 10/12/2009

user rating

3.6
great

Chart.

recommended by reviewer

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3.0
good

sspedding USER (6 Reviews)

2009-11-06 | 10 comments | 205 views

Summary: Not for purists

2 of 2 thought this review was well written

Guilty pleasures are horrible things, admitting to such is a thankless task. However in this case I will admit that Bury Tomorrow’s debut LP release “Portraits” ticks the criteria for me.

There is a common sound being adopted particularly by British metalcore bands at current (Johnny Truant/Evita/Azriel etc). Palm mutes are chugged using downtuned guitars and open strings are mainly used to achieve a super heavy sound, particularly during breakdowns which rarely ever seem innovative these days. This is of course not new at all except they are produced to create a more murky sound when compared to their American metalcore counterparts.

These who often opt for the clean ‘Joey Sturgis’ style of overproduction (We Came As Romans) which includes typically an autotuner for the clean vocalist and mechanical sounding drums as well as various techniques to create a razor sharp guitar sound.

Portraits is essentially another by the numbers metalcore release and Bury Tomorrow rarely ventures from their comfort zone of generic verse/chorus/verse/breakdown/chorus song structure and the musicianship is rarely anything but underwhelming. They do however possess a sizeable asset in their clean vocalist who successfully manages to drag the record from the doldrums pouring out his serene vocals to particularly superb effect in “You and I” and the first track “Confessions”. The band are obviously aware they have little else to separate themselves from every other British metalcore band besides their undoubtedly talented clean vocalist and they tend to focus all their music to suit his voice. High pitch, not too complicated melodic leads are picked by the lead guitarist. They have a particularly large influence in the rerecordings of their EP songs, “Casting Shapes” and so on when the band had a more post hardcore base to their music.

The scream vocalist showcases a fairly satisfactory range of vocals interchanging often between low pitch guttural screams and high pitch shrieks however his talent is questionable as his low pitch screams grow more monotonous and indecipherable as the record runs.

The drums are also far from remarkable, rhythms are pedestrian the majority of the time. He exercises his pedals and kick drum at key opportunities but generally uses generic techniques to keep the pace. The bass is of course inaudible in amongst the metallic barrage and generally the musicianship leaves a much to be desired, especially when one considers the level of musicianship and excellent use of complex time signatures on the recently released Echo Verses by British math metalcore band The Arusha Accord. A band who it could be argued is a competitor in breaking out of the metalcore underground in Britain.

Having said this though, Bury Tomorrow focus their music on the same melodic metalcore niche Evita tried their hand at and they offer a completely different, albeit shallower listening experience which for one reason or another I find to be enjoyable.

Recommended Songs:
You and I
Portraits
Confessions

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