Bury the Traitor- Ascend To Clarity
It is strange that since the metalcore boom in the mid to late noughties, and its eventual decay, no other subgenre has stepped forward to lay claim to its throne. As glam metal gave way to grunge, which gave way to nu metal, it would be reasonable to expect something else to have captured the mainstream high ground of rock and metal now that metalcore’s stock has dropped. Instead, rock and metal’s place in the mainstream consciousness is lower than ever and there is no one movement proving a gateway for fans of less aggressive music. We’ve ended up with plenty of bands trying to revitalise metalcore in their own form, whether it’s the more commercial end or harking back to more savage bands from earlier in the genre’s evolution. Very few of these new bands have achieved anything particularly special.
Once opening track, Embers, kicks in after the acoustic intro, it’s clear that Bury The Traitor are orientating themselves toward the cleaner, more melodic end of metalcore. Embers has guitar leads that are reminiscent of Iron Maiden, and the chunky riffing and screamed vocals are solid. It’s nothing new and exciting but it’s accomplished well, it’s delivered well and while it’s a little too polished for my tastes I can see it appealing to fans of the cleaner end of metalcore. The riffs and screams maintain their quality throughout much of the album, even touching on a hard rock style riff at the beginning of A.S.I.F. This is a solid backbone for a metalcore record and had this been all this EP was, while it could be criticised for getting a little stale over the six tracks, it would have walked away with a better score.
The biggest issue with this record becomes apparent when the chorus of second track, Season To Burn, comes in. I’ve often expressed that I wish more metal bands would listen to Taylor Swift. Say what you like about her, but the woman knows how to write a hook. Bury The Traitor could have majorly benefited from this advice. Every clean vocal melody on this EP is hopelessly meandering and unmemorable. There seems to be some effort to craft anthemic choruses, but it never works out. This is clearest on Lion Vs Wolf, where the clean vocals are laid over an equally aimless lead guitar line. It’s very disappointing to see that the guitar parts have dropped from being comparable to Iron Maiden to being completely uninspiring. It’s something that actively makes the record worse, and ultimately, with metalcore still being massively over-saturated, isn’t something a young band trying to make a name for themselves can afford.
Ascend To Clarity is a frustrating record. It has the elements to be much better than it is but they’re overshadowed by a glaring issue. I’ve recently been discussing with friends, bands who, like Pantera, only became good after several records. There weren’t any we could think of in recent times, which is probably because there’s so much music out there that people won’t invest in bands who aren’t decent the first time out. I hope that Bury The Traitor have the opportunity to release more music and improve their song writing as there is promise here. But for right now I think it’s best to wait to see how the next release turns out before checking them out.
Highlight: Embers
Ascend To Clarity is out February 14th 2019.
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