Review Summary: Better than the Thrice song.
‘
Prepare the sails!’ cries opener "Nautilus", and bang, Burn the Fleet have you tangled amongst their tight vocal harmonies and their memorable riffs. Burn the Fleet are a formidable 4 piece post-hardcore/alternative band, as their EP
The Mistress more than demonstrates. Lead by Andrew Convey (bass and vocals), the band have released an EP that is an extremely enjoyable listen from start to finish, due to the fact the four promising songs possess a binding clutch that never tires.
Clocking in at 5.20, "Nautilus" is the longest song on the EP, starting off with the said vocal line and then making way for a stomping riff. The lyrics are focused around the concept of sea, and sailing, as the title suggests (Nautilus being a fictional submarine), sung by both Andrew and the guitarist James, where Andrew often adds a powerful harmony over the top. Toward the middle of the song, gang vocals are evident, shouting ‘
Prepare the sails!’ over and over – which understandably has great effect live. The bridge of this song is fantastic: the drums go into half time as a cementing bass line is provided, all the while each guitar plays a gentle melody, almost reminiscent of dripping water. On what may otherwise be a potentially generic bridge (with things becoming quieter, and played in half time etc...), the track is kept interesting by the use of 3 different simultaneous vocals, in which ‘
Waiting for you in the watchtower by the sea...’ is sung expressively over a repeated
‘Caught up in the sails’ and ‘
I’m going home’, which works very well and smoothly, an affect perhaps hard to get right with multiple vocals. The penultimate riff leads nicely out of the bridge with a very effective rest that keeps the listener on guard, as you end up waiting for it each time you near the song. "Nautilus" is a great sing along with an unstoppable drive.
"Fictional Children" again has a dual vocal assault with harmonies being struck left, right and centre, maintaining the force that "Nautilus" supplied over the dominating guitars. The song structure here (also in the other songs too) is interesting in the way that Burn the Fleet don’t use choruses as such, yet all the songs are kept catchy and exciting. The song builds up nicely to a bridge where the vocalist barks with his governing voice ‘
Reflections of ghosts, cities of dust, hundreds of bones in concrete and rust, and you will be free’, which is backed up with a guitar melody over crushing chords and drums. Despite this, the dynamics of the song take a change here when only a palm muted guitar remains and the vocal line comes back in, laden with reverb. Two hits of the snare and boom, you’re thrown back into a captivating and uplifting, yet simple riff that leads into the ending where one chord is left to end itself.
Enter "Confessions of a Justified Sinner", where immediately, the guitars are severe once again, dragging you into the song headfirst, and complete with a harmonised melody that is extremely appealing to the ears. Two vocalists attack, just overlapping each other with each shout, sealing an immense opening to the song. Some solid drumming accompanies the whole track throughout, but the vocals steal the show with the power behind each lyric delivered. As the first part of the track ends, the bass plays a once again trudging line alongside the drums, which allows two harmonising guitar parts to let out wailing notes over the top, flanking an also wailing shout covered in reverb at the back of the mix, giving a distinct atmosphere. The track is relentless though, as it comes back in with a great verse that builds and builds and climaxes in a singing ‘
Look at what I’ve done! Look at what I’ve become!’. An instrumental part of the track follows which results in another simple however very effective moment in the piece – everything is dropped, the right guitar plays 3 notes, then the left the same, then the bass, and finally a hit of the snare announces the entrance of the riff over which the ‘
Look at what I’ve done!...’ is sung over again to conclude what is potentially the finest song on the EP.
Anthemic closer "Handfuls of Sand" is much slower than the previous songs, yet is the perfect way to end it all. A lonesome guitar begins the track, as a group chant enters announcing ‘
Abandon all hope (all who enter here)’, whilst the following lyrics are beautifully harmonised. The track continues like this for a over a minute or so, until drums enter and the gang chant comes back repeating ‘
I’ll beat my hands against my chest, and sing I’m alive’ over the top of a descending guitar melody, which leaves the whole band to enter as one and bombard you with ‘whoa’s’. The gang chants enter again to end the track, which even on first listen invites you to sing along with the memorable lines. Despite the large difference between this track and the previous song it evolves from, the bands’ already defining sound is prominent, tying all the tracks together and piecing them together as an undeniably consistent group of absorbing material.
Burn the Fleet have created an extremely convincing debut EP with
The Mistress, each track solid and insistent, leaving you craving more come it's solemn end. They have an incredible talent to unleash unto the world, so consider yourself lucky to be here, right now, where it’s all beginning. With their already growing and dedicated fanbase,
The Mistress has already begun paving the way for even more aural goodness, as the band have a massive potential that thankfully doesn't feel like it will slow down any time soon.
