Burial Grounds - Burial of Corpses (2007)

The hardest thing I find about reviewing CDs is finding the correct adjectives to describe a band sufficiently. As Billy Joel sang: "There's a new band in town, but you can't get the sound, from a story in a magazine", and this is very true. Words like "Groove" and "aggression" are recycled time and time again because the English language is so appallingly short of descriptive words to apply to metal. When a band does something moldbreaking it is possible to throw in some different and unique adjectives, but in most cases you really gotta work hard to not to sound like you have a three word vocabulary. In other words, the more a band gives me to work with, the better I can give them back.

Burial Grounds is another one of those bands that - to my frustration - really makes me work.

Now that might sound harsh, but it shouldn't necessarily be taken that way. When you take into account the obvious youth of the band, this is a really quite good EP. Bands seldom go out and create a masterpiece right off the bat, those who do have been in countless other bands before and find musos with the same experience. And even then, who is to say what is a brilliant album?
It is not like they are doing anything wrong here, it just sounds to me like they are still finding their sound on this EP, but when they do it cranks. I heard only one such moment on this EP, the ripsnorting and ball-tearing "Found in Pieces" where everyone just locks in together and just tears away in the right direction. If the rest of this EP sounded like that song I would be giving it a blazingly good review, it sounds to me like THAT is the song on which they should define their future direction.

The guitars are thick in tone and the riffs are pretty good, the vibe is mid-paced and about on the same heaviness level of Bleed the Sky or maybe 8 foot Sativa, although it resembles neither. The trademark riff style seems to be a fat and fairly simple open riff combined with a quicker muted passage, in the same sort of vein as old Metallica. There are sections where a Slayer feel comes through, and something else I recognise but can't put my finger on. The tone is good, with definition and clarity without losing heaviness. There is speed there in passages, chunks in others, Pantera-esque grooves in parts, and there are some quite ferocious speedmetal leads.

The bass is tight with the guitar lending it thickness without doing anything flamboyant, and the drums are good, probably the best part of the EP. Heavy and fast at times, they are kick and snare heavy and with good variation, I was impressed in particular with the unique cymbal work. Vocals are heavy, death/black in tone and used sparcely, Todd the vocallist of Burial Grounds is also the guitarist and so in typical three-piece bands style, large sections of the music are free of any singing whatsoever. This may explain away some of the simplicity of sections of the "Burial of Corpses" Ep, sometimes these vocal-free patches may go on for minutes at a time, especially in the 11 minute long bonus track "Ancient Burial".

And to my surprise I see that guest vocals have been done by none other than Rowland, who knew he could sing?

There is nothing wrong with this EP really, it just doesn't really impress me when I compare it to some of the amazing Metal out there and in this city. I guess the problem here is the same one I come across all too often: a young band with some great skills playing their arses off and doing everything right, but just not quite doing enough to be shithot. A band that could refine their technique 10% and sound 90% better. "Burial of Corpses" EP is 24 minutes long and recorded pretty well, the boys from burial grounds have done very well for a first EP and with a bit more development of their sound they could do something pretty spectacular.

Review by Jez.