Burst - Origo

Burst are the latest band from Relapse records to be hyped as having the potential to shake their genre down and build something new. Considering the last two bands from Relapse to receive this kind of treatment were The Dillinger Escape Plan and Mastodon, this is quite a precedent to live up to. Burst definitely have a lot more in common with Mastodon than the former. This is a metal band, and if you don’t like metal, you wont like Origo, but if you do, you’ll find it does bring some new perspective and life to the genre.

With their third full length Burst have produced a metal album that has much in common with their peers in bands like Mastodon and Isis. The emphasis on the songs is on texture and depth to provide the heaviness. There’s a very earthy, natural and rugged feel that runs through the music on Origo. Softer passages in the middle of songs like Flight’s End provide moments for reflection as a piano melody weaves its way through the other instruments. Burst are quite adept at using these interactions between instruments to create strong textures through their work.

Immateria features duelling growled and sung vocal lines for much of the song, before a soft guitar interlude leads us into the heavy part. A floating organ melody and double kick drumming finishes the whole thing off with a fitting sense of epic drama. The band’s focus is on creating a full sound to suit whatever the song needs, and throughout they mix a lot of acoustic guitar and piano/organ to create different moods. The breadth of their style and ability is also on show, with Slave Emotion featuring some very fast thrash style drums, that fit perfectly into a song which isn’t really thrash at all. It Comes Into View is a restrained instrumental interlude which builds up a number of times without ever really breaking. But if that leaves you frustrated, Stormweilder is right behind and instantly kicks into full gear.

Origo is surprisingly short, but it’s nine songs feel a lot longer than the 45 minutes they are thanks to the layers of texture that have been worked into them. It is an album which like many of the metal greats will require repeat listenings over time to be allowed to sink in properly, but those willing to try should find themselves happily absorbed.

(Originally published on FasterLouder)