Review Summary: If I found this burning record, I wouldn't piss on it.
Buried In Verona are what The Amity Affliction would be if Amity were bigger bros who wanted to punch you in the face and *** THIS PUB UP!!!!!!
The album cover for Notorious has stuck with me since its release. The big NOTORIOUS BIV necklace made me laugh. It also made me very very nervous stepping into this album. I enjoyed BIV’s very promising debut ‘Circle The Dead’ and their follow up ‘Saturday Night Clever’ was generic as hell but it was my kind of generic and with the addition of clean vocalist/guitarist Richie Newman, they were really hitting my sweet spot.
Right from the get-go you are either going to love or hate this record. You get unclean vocalist Brett Andersons new vocal style. His generic Metalcore uncleans have been updated to include generic Hardcore shouts for the most part and it takes him zero seconds to let you know that he is a badass not to be messed with as he proclaims:
If I found your burning body
I wouldn't stop to piss on you
Whilst BIV have added in a punk/hardcore style of playing into their metalcore sound, it’s only when Richie takes center stage that the band really shines. His choruses throughout are great with ‘Four Years’, ‘Perception’ and ‘Last Words’ standing out on the album. The peak moment comes when they decide to not be Bros and go for some real feelings. ‘Lionheart’ being the big emotional ballad on the album and really the only track that holds any weight. Richie holds his own taking the lead and he sounds great and lyrically it deals with being a Father when you didn’t have one yourself. Its cheesy, slow, and trying so hard to be something the band isn’t but it works so well.
‘Can’t Let Go’ also stands out as it has a feature with Ahren from Amity, and you would be hard pressed to say it’s not an Amity track with Brett doing his best Joel impression. It’s the second-best track here purely because its Amity through and through. ‘Couldn’t Give 34 ***s’ leaves us with the biggest question mark on the album. Whilst I appreciate what they were going for and I also like drinking and parting with my mates, the lyrics are so damn childish, and the ‘punk’ yells just do not do it for me, and it left me cocking my head like a confused dog.
Overall, this album was a big disappointment to me when it first dropped. I was excited to hear my Amity rip off continue, but instead I got this. If you take ‘Lionheart’ and ‘Can’t Let Go’ out of here you are left with nothing of note. Unless you like being a Bro who fights people who don’t drink like you do.
