Song: Bury Tomorrow - Wrath [The Seventh Sun, 2023]

Wrath was one of the most surprisingly strong cuts on Bury Tomorrow's latest release, The Seventh Sun. Coming from an album of mostly heavy hitters and tasty breakdowns, Wrath comes of as more of an anthemic and climactic piece. It immediately caught my attention of my first listen of the album, and has kept it ever since.

The intro itself already sets the song apart from the rest, with a wobbly synth underlaying a short clean passage that sounds dramatic already, before going straight into riff heaven. I love the classic metalcore style riffage with the full bar sixteenth-note guitarwork, backed up by solid drumming and one good Dani scream. The first verse is pretty solid, the running drumbeat is fun.

The chorus is such a fun one to sing along to, and honestly, my personal favourite chorus of the album. The vocal melody is great, the instrumentals are bouncy. Post-chorus sees them bring back that first riff, which is great as well. Second verse is pretty short but the riff and groove it has is gnarly, I love it. Second post-chorus has got some nice vocalising too.

At some point leading up to the bridge, they bring in some strings, which adds to the operatic element of this song. It's subtle, but I think it makes the transition to the bridge a lot smoother. The bridge itself is one of my favourite parts of the whole album. It takes that dramatic essence from the intro of the song, and expands it into a whole section. I love how sentimental and powerful it feels, the lyrics are surprisingly uplifting and wholesome, the dual vocal setup sounds amazing, especially once they desync and the juxtaposition gets to shine. I'm glad they gave this section the length it deserves, it really ends off the song in a beautiful way.

Wrath is definitely not their signature sound, but I love how well they pulled off a anthemic rock ballad like this. I love how human it feels, I love the hopefulness of it all, and on a good day it gives me goosebumps hearing the bridge. This song manages to beat out every other track on the album to be my personal favourite, and I'm thinking it might be one of my favourite songs of the year.

Rating: 4.5/5

Lyric Of The Week 87: Smahccked My Head Awf

"Would you remember if I never left?"

Hot Mulligan - Smahccked My Head Awf, from the album Why Would I Watch

Album: Bury Tomorrow - The Seventh Sun [2023]

Bury Tomorrow was another dive headfirst into a band I had never heard a single second of before this, only going off of their notability in the metalcore scene (which is usually a good thing). I didn't even catch the singles, so I had the whole album for the first time, and I gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised. I found out after the fact that this was their clean vocalist's first album, which was a high-stakes moment for them, but I'm glad it went so well for them.

I can't speak for anything else in their discography on account of not having heard it, but The Seventh Sun has this immaculate modernisation of classic metalcore, the best I've heard if I'm being honest. It's not hard to tell from my picks that I'm way more inclined towards modern metal than classic metal, and it really is rare for any metal album before 2010 to strike a chord with me, but this one (albeit in 2023) takes that classic metalcore sound and reinvents it in a modern metal palette that I actually quite enjoy.

Littered throughout this album are a lot of strong moments, both vocally and instrumentally, and they are by and large in metalcore territory, but there is a commendable diversity that they chose to have on this album. Orchestral elements, ballad-like tracks, background electronics, all influences of modern metal, they do a lot to make this album sound more epic and complete.

They have a really strong foundation that they're working off of, great tones overall, whether vocally or instrumentally. On top of that, the songwriting is pretty fun and unique. There's some stellar riffs, really unique vocal melodies and unclean cadences, setting them apart from most generic metalcore songs. The production is pretty tight too, and I think it does well to accentuate the good stuff. Some of my favourite moments include: the pre-chorus and first breakdown of Abandon Us, the chorus and bridge of Wrath, the chorus and outro of Heretic and the intro of Care.

The Seventh Sun is definitely a solid album, and although it's not entirely memorable, its better moments are unforgettable. A few mehs but no misses and some pretty great hits, so definitely one of the better metalcore releases of the year, and Wrath is definitely ending up on my year-end list, so it's a big yes from me for sure.

Rating: 8/10

Tracklist:

1. The Seventh Sun

2. Abandon Us

3. Begin Again

4. Forced Divide

5. Boltcutter

6. Wrath

7. Majesty

8. Heretic (feat. Loz Taylor of While She Sleeps)

9. Recovery?

10. Care

11. The Carcass King (feat. Cody Frost)

Song: Dance Gavin Dance - 2019 Singles (Head Hunter & Blood Wolf) [2019]

More Dance Gavin Dance singles! We're looking at their 2019 twin release, between Artificial Selection and Afterburner. The two artworks combining to make one big piece is pretty cool, but cooler are the songs itself. Intriguingly, in a similar fashion to Summertime Gladness, the vibe of both songs are this interesting lighthearted and summer-y sound that isn't really found on their albums.

Head Hunter is the punchier of the two, immediately starting off with fun, bouncy riff and Jon Mess spelling out "bless this mess" for you (whether he's referring to himself remains a mystery). Tilian comes in soon after, voice soothing as ever, amidst a sea of strong swancore guitarwork. The chorus is catchy as they always manage to do, but the verses and bridge are solid too. The riffage is super shiny and bright, especially with those tremolo high chords in the chorus and frenzied notes here and there.

Blood Wolf is the trippier of the two, drawing some inspiration from pyschedelic rock to sound funky and weird. I love the chord choices, really vibrant, the guitar tone for the first verse is pretty gnarly too. The pre-chorus feels just a tiny bit weird with the way it transitions in, but minor gripe. Solid chorus, better post-chorus, bless this Mess. The verses have some great vocal melodies and tasty instrumental backings, super summer vibes, even more so than Summertime Gladness if I'm being honest.

Neither of these songs are here to push to limit of their swancore sound, but they are definitely the epitome of a good time. Massive summer vibes that makes you wanna move is never a bad thing, and they absolutely kill it on these two tracks. I may not seek out these songs on my own, but you can be damn well sure I never skip them.

Rating: 3/5

Lyric Of The Week 86: 2040

"Violent, manic, fatal pressure."

Johnny Booth - 2040, from the album Moments Elsewhere

Album: Bring Me The Horizon - Suicide Season [2008]

I think it's pretty obvious that I love Bring Me The Horizon's work, but if it isn't already, I've listened to every record they've ever released, many times (except for Music To Listen To, hearing Oli meditate for 20 minutes once is enough). Their evolution with every album is a wonder to see, but I feel like Suicide Season is not nearly mentioned enough of how big of a turning point it was for the band.

Coming off of the lovable but messy, rough deathcore sound of Count Your Blessings, you'd hardly expect them to transition to such a promising, almost genre-redefining metalcore sound, but they did it. A three-point jump up in production, songwriting and creativity, the increase in quality cannot be overstated. After a mathcore EP and a deathcore album, they somehow found themselves dead center in the best metalcore sound of that era.

As the title suggests, this album does delve into some pretty heavy topics, but a decent majority of this album is still that same "teenagers having fun" vibe, and I love that it comes through in the chaotic essence, topical carefreeness and occasional party-esque moments. Songs about zombies and vampires, partying too hard and shit-talking bad people, all great bops in the name of fun.

The darker songs touch on topics like depression and suicide, showing both their versatility and maturity on these cuts. There's a distinct tonal shift that goes on, with a stronger focus on melodic dissonance and less chugs, building atmospheric sections and more nuanced emotional passages. Other than Chelsea Smile, which somehow manages to have the best of both worlds, the rest of the album seems to be on either side of this sonically heavy/emotionally heavy duality.

This album also sees the beginning of their sonic versatility, especially with their production choices. Turns out, they've always been unafraid to use electronic elements in their music, even if not too often here. They're also unafraid of having fun too, because who else puts fifteen seconds of elevator jazz before the heaviest song they have? If that doesn't seal the deal on why they're at the forefront of modern metalcore, I don't know what will.

Suicide Season is justifiably one of their best albums, and a significant milestone of their career. I love that I love it, because as miraculously huge of an improvement as it is, it was still a bit rough around the edges, and at the time that I first listened to it, I wasn't very accustomed to heavy music. To be honest, I'm surprised it stuck, it was definitely the heaviest album I knew at the time. Regardless, a super solid record of theirs, a must listen if you're getting into Bring Me The Horizon, even more so if you want to understand how simply groundbreaking they were as a metalcore band.

Rating: 10/10

Tracklist:

1. The Comedown

2. Chelsea Smile

3. It Was Written In Blood

4. Death Breath

5. Football Season is Over (feat. JJ Peters of Deez Nuts)

6. Sleep With One Eye Open

7. Diamonds Aren't Forever

8. The Sadness Will Never End (feat. Sam Carter of Architects)

9. No Need For Introductions, I've Read About Girls Like You On The Backs Of Toilet Doors

10. Suicide Season

Song: Dance Gavin Dance - Summertime Gladness [2017]

Dance Gavin Dance's albums are stellar and some of my favourites of all times, but their very small selection of non-album singles have some great tunes as well. Summertime Gladness, a post-Mothership release, is one of their best tunes in general, and a super fun one to play.

This song is unbelievably funky, and it's the best thing about this song by far. The moment the song starts, it's pure funk with those chords and rhythmic choices, and the swancore licks lean into it as well. Between Tilian's sweet cleans, Jon's strong screams and Will's tasteful guitarwork, the verse continues to carry the torch of funkiness. The pre-chorus has some beautiful guitar layers as well, underneath the cleans.

The chorus is fun, I'm loving the grit on the cleans, I'm loving whatever pedal effects got thrown on the lead guitar, I'm loving the vocal melodies and lyricism. The second half sees Jon coming in to throw an absolutely hilarious line on as well, "kiss my, kiss your ass goodbye", and I think Will's even backing that line far back in the mix.

The second verse plays out similarly to the first verse, and so does the second chorus, although they made it a lot longer. I am absolutely in love with the sax solo they threw on over the chorus all the way to the outro, maximum funk has been reached, no doubt. I also the love the way the outro somehow reminds me of a 'riding into the sunset' scenario but with that quirky Dance Gavin Dance vibe rolled into it.

Summertime Gladness is forever a bop, and when it comes to funky, one of the best cuts they have to offer in their entire nearly 2 decades of music. Catch me absolutely moving my body if this song ever comes up, because if this plays and you ain't moving, you ain't living.

Rating: 4/5

Album: Olivia Rodrigo - GUTS [2023]

Olivia Rodrigo is back for round 2! GUTS is the highly anticipated follow-up to SOUR, and it seems she's leaning into the rock side of things a lot more this time around, which I am loving. Preceded by two wildly different singles, vampire and bad idea right?, it was looking to be a very different experience from SOUR.

The sophomore release sees a lot of elements from her debut make a second appearance, from the blend of strong and straight up confessional lyricism to the varying degrees of humourous and emotional expressiveness in her vocal work, but most noticeably, the rock influence is back and more than twofold. It might even be apt to call this a rock record, all things considered.

The subtle evolution of her sound and songwriting is very commendable, transitioning from an intentionally teenage topics on SOUR to one with a touch more maturity on GUTS. On the rock cuts, it's great to see bits of grunge, emo and pop punk seep through into the soundscapes, especially with the tones and production. She's gotten much better at this intersecting her modern pop sensibilities with alternative rock palettes, while remaining as unique and as accessible as she was before.

Despite continuing to avoid the pitfalls of Tiktok blandness, her music surprisingly caters to the Gen Z at an even greater degree than before. Very modern youth aesthetics shine on cuts like bad idea right? and get him back!, with the impressively dynamic vocal work carrying the hyper-modern language and tonality across the airwaves. The duality of her ballads and rockers is amazing to see honestly, especially when the two sides amalgamate on tracks like vampire and teenage dream. Hearing these songs start off with a simple piano backing and end with an uproaring rock opera-esque climax is tasteful, to say the least.

GUTS is an amazing follow-up to SOUR, one that I enjoy much, much more, and not just for it's more prominent rock influences (although I do enjoy that a lot). It feels like her songwriting has stepped up, her sentiments have become more poignant and the overall listening experience has improved substantially. Definitely a highlight of pop music in 2023.

Rating: 8/10

Tracklist:

1. all-american bitch

2. bad idea right?

3. vampire

4. lacy

5. ballad of a homeschooled girl

6. making the bed

7. logical

8. get him back!

9. love is embarassing

10. the grudge

11. pretty isn't pretty

12. teenage dream

Lyric Of The Week 85: Thirst

"Every hostile deed is your death, it's not mine."

Every Time I Die - Thirst, from the album From Parts Unknown

Song: FIZZ - High In Brighton [2023]

dodie's in a band? Can you believe it? When she announced she was part of FIZZ alongside Orla Gartland, Greta Isaac and Martin Luke Brown (all of whom I don't know), I was pretty surprised. dodie is someone who I've been following for a while now, and I enjoy a lot of her music, but her joining a band was so unexpected to me. Someone who primarily crafts intricate soft soundscapes that compliments her whispery vocals, putting herself in a loud indie rock setting feels like whiplash.

Their debut single was quite exciting though, I'll admit. High In Brighton is a high-energy tune that, with the benefit of the doubt, seems to nail it exactly on the head on what they want to sound like. It's carefree and fun, bursting at the seams with the passion of four friends united by a desire to have fun making music together. The vocals are vibrant and diverse on account of having four voices to play around with and harmonise, and the instrumentation is surprisingly robust even as it takes a background role against the vocals.

Something about this song reminds me of TV show theme songs, I can't pinpoint what exactly it is but the vibe in general reminds me of old sitcoms or cartoons where they show all the characters being goofy or whatever in the intro. Nevertheless, I love the lightheartedness and playful energy of the song, it's a welcome contrast to the majority of my current rotation.

Needless to say, I am intrigued. They've since released 4 more singles, and also unfortunately delayed the album release, but I am excited to find out what they have in store for their debut album. If it's as promising as this single makes it out to be, we might have a banger debut album on our hands soon.

Rating: 3/5

Album: Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR [2021]

Olivia Rodrigo just released GUTS not too long ago, so obviously I'll talk about her debut album first. It's been more than 2 years since SOUR dropped, and it was one of the biggest music moments on 2021, one that even I enjoyed quite a bit. It was cool to see a pop artist as mainstream as she is, intersect with rock even just a little bit, and top charts like it's nobody's business.

I remember when she blew up with drivers license, which was honestly a pretty good sad-vibes pop track, and it did deserve every listen it got but there's no denying that the virality of Tiktok played a part. Nevertheless, it led up to a highly anticipated debut album, one that was only spurred on by two more great singles.

SOUR is definitely a diverse listen for the pop world. The rock and pop-punk influences were something I greatly appreciated, but even outside of that, her pop sensibilities were evident in the kind of confessional songwriting that starred in most of her tracks. There was something very human about a someone of my age writing songs about things we care about at my age, and there's an endearing touch of what it's like to be young woven throughout these songs, maturity be damned. There's a reason this album resonated so strongly with the younger audience, to the point of massive critical acclaim and claiming various accolades.

SOUR has a strong focus on young love, decorated with succinct pop-based production and a tinge of angst poking through, especially with the louder tracks like brutal and good 4 u. The majority of the album resides in mainstream pop territory though, and despite the prominence of Tiktok in it's popularity, is not as affected by the tiktok music pitfalls as I expected. Some of these cuts sound like they would fit comfortably in the late 2000s or early 2010s pop scene, especially some of the deeper cuts.

It's not my favourite album of all time, but it's footprint is unmistakable and it is honestly one of the better pop albums of that year anyways. I had fun listening to it when it came out, and it's rare enough that I actually like and come back to any pop album, so this is definitely a plus. Despite the comparisons to pop contemporaries like Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift, I think it's pretty clear Olivia Rodrigo has made a name for herself, and if she hasn't already come into her own, she very would on her next album (spoiler alert: she does).

Rating: 7/10

Tracklist:

1. brutal

2. traitor

3. drivers licence

4. 1 step forward, 3 steps back

5. deja vu

6. good 4 u

7. enough for you

8. happier

9. jealousy, jealousy

10. favourite crime

11. hope ur ok

Lyric Of The Week 84: As Dust Dances

"The bone's got the wrong details."

Biffy Clyro - As Dust Dances, from the album Puzzle

Song: Fit For An Autopsy, Thy Art Is Murder & Malevolence - The Aggression Sessions (Original Songs) [2023]

I've mentioned before that deathcore is a genre that, more often than not, I have trouble with finding albums that I enjoy. It's not something I actively seek out, so I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying a three-way split EP way more than I thought I would. Three big names in the old and modern deathcore scene have brought to us the 6-track sequel to The Depression Sessions, of which the 3 original songs impressed me.

Hellions came first, from the beastly modern deathcore legends Fit For An Autopsy, returning for a second round after The Depression Sessions. It's a solid deathcore banger with all the delights of their usual sound, Tasteful riffs, great vocals and a beatdown-esque breakdown. I'll be honest, it's my least favourite of the three, but it is still very commendable as a high-quality cut from the modern deathcore scene. I definitely won't complain if I'm looking for a good headbang and this song comes on.

Until There Is No Longer was the one that caught my attention, honestly. Despite a majority of the song being on the same barely memorable wavelength as Hellions, there was something so feral about the final breakdown that kept me coming back to it, it reminded me of Meshuggah's Bleed a bit. There was also the really groovy bridge with it's tasteful riffage that was another memorable moment. For my first introduction to classic deathcore legends Thy Art Is Murder, it's not bad, not bad indeed.

Waste Of Myself was the last original to release, alongside the rest of the EP. Malevolence was a name I didn't really know on account of their relative recency, but they impressed me quite a bit. I found their strength to be their surprising pop sensibilities in this deathcore sound, awarding them with a catchiness the other two songs simply can't compare to. The chorus was amazing, I love the melody and I especially love the vocal tone, even more so in the last chorus when he pulls that extra lowest note. Beyond that, the verses are pretty great too and the riffs are pretty sweet, the only thing they were missing was a breakdown, but with a song like this, I can't really complain.

It feels unusual to be talking about a split deathcore EP, mostly because I rarely find music from this corner of deathcore to be interesting enough for me, but this EP was honestly better than I expected. Finding myself coming back to it more than I thought I would was enough reason for me to write this, and the three-way split was also a really interesting format, but I don't have anything to say about the covers. Overall, a pretty enjoyable heavy time.

Rating: 3/5

Album: Signs of the Swarm - Amongst The Low & Empty [2023]

This has got to be one of the best deathcore releases of the year. Signs of the Swarm has taken me by surprise with their ridiculously extreme modern deathcore cuts on this behemoth of an album. Technicality is off the charts in the speed department, and they have to be at the very least tech-death adjacent.

I first caught Tower of Torsos, which was an aggressive yet surprisingly really catchy single with a violent glitch-infused chorus, and I found their sound really quite unique. Then I listened to the other single out at the time, which was the title track, and boy did that one blow me away. Craziest breakdown of the year, for sure, but the rest of it was also full of great grooves, tasty riffs and monstrous vocals. Those double kicks are insane though. After these two, I knew I wanted to see what they had in store for the album.

The album was, unsurprisingly, insanely heavy. I love their more polished and technical touch on deathcore, especially with the kind of ridiculous breakdowns on Pray for Death and Faces Without Names, but also the great use of production in subtle ways to accentuate this pixel perfect brutality of theirs, like all the vocal chops and echo effects. Despite the sonic territory of modern deathcore, they manage to dish out songs that are memorable and catchy even. Pray for Death has some crazy blast-chugs and breakdown chug patterns, Between Fire & Stone has a tasty first breakdown with some monstrous vocals and this really cool repeating lead motif at the end of the song, Echelon has a really nice production-heavy chorus and decently insane breakdown too, and likewise on Faces Without Names. I find it kind of interesting that I think of Malady as the de-facto ballad of the album, somehow that was the impression that I got when it came out as a single, and nothing about the album has changed that impression for me.

Amongst The Low & Empty is definitely a fun find for the year, especially coming from modern deathcore. It's rare for me to find a deathcore album I actually enjoy most of, but Signs of the Swarm has insanity as its main appeal, and boy does it appeal to me. The vocals and instrumentation are some of the highest quality you can ask for in a deathcore band, but their creativity with pushing the limits is always a plus. My jaw might still be on the floor from the title track but at least I'm headbanging.

Rating: 8/10

Tracklist:

1. Amongst the Low & Empty

2. Tower of Torsos

3. Pray for Death

4. Borrowed Time

5. Between Fire & Stone

6. Shackles Like Talons

7. DREAMKILLER

8. The Witch Beckons (feat. Matthew K. Heafy of Trivium)

9. Echelon

10. Faces Without Names

11. Malady

Lyric Of The Week 83: Lead, SD

"It took your blood on my blood to believe."

Manchester Orchestra - Lead, SD, from the album A Black Mile To The Surface