Review Summary: It seems we’re tearing ourselves apart
To say that ‘The Burial of You and Me’ have their work cut out for them is an understatement, given that the Metalcore scene in their home country of Sweden is often overshadowed by the other metal sub-genres that the snow-laden lands are more often known for; this overbearing stigma luckily didn’t negatively affect them in the slightest. ‘Closure’ is a fleshed out, atmospheric EP that draws on the band’s more melodic influences and dwarfs their debut album both in quality and scale.
One of the issues that plagued this band’s debut album ‘Endings’ was the lackluster production job that muffled the instrumentals and distorted the vocals; this is exactly the opposite here, as every instrument is flushed out perfectly, complimented by drone influenced ambiance, haunting keys, and slight string flourishes at all the right moments, with the vocals now sitting perfectly in the mix. The riffing is melodic, infectious, and hits hard; effectively sounding like a cleaner blend between August Burns Red and Wage War being babysat by In Fear and Faith’s self-titled album on a Friday night. Songs such as “Transparent” rely on the melodic foundation given by the previously mentioned riff work, and help capture the atmosphere superbly. Being a Metalcore EP, one can rightfully expect a surplus of breakdowns, but here they’re all placed tastefully, and actually help carry the consistency of the tone in each song. The bass is actually audible here as well, being particularly noticeable in songs such as “Gone” which draws on a surprisingly welcome Djent influence to add to the song’s already groovy nature. The drumming is filled with, well, creative fills! The varied drum work isn’t reliant on blast beats or excessive china spam and forms actual backbones for each of the songs.
The vocals have also taken a massive step up in quality here; the clean vocals utilize a much lower and less nasally tone consistently, which fits the atmospheric tone of the EP more effectively, and allows higher notes to stand out in a much more effective fashion. The harsh vocals jump from booming gutturals to piercing fry shrieks beautifully, and vary in speed and intensity very smoothly depending on the pace of the song they’re in. The lyricism matches the level of vocal delivery here, tackling issues of self-loathing, entitlement, and the ramifications of glorified self-abuse in a fresh, introspective manner.
For a relatively new band to make such a leap in quality from previous material is pretty uncommon, but ‘The Burial of You and Me’ clearly care about their craft, and it shows in this wonderful release. ‘Closure’ the EP shows a bright future for these Swedish youngsters, and hopefully their sophomore LP in the future will capitalize on the brimming talent showcased here.
