Year Of The Harvest
Bury Tomorrow are one of those bands who could really be set to break into the big time very soon, much in the same way Bring Me The Horizon really blew a hole in everything after releasing Sempiternal last year. It is difficult though, with an album that big it is starting to get to the point that every emerging band from this generation will have their work compared to the impact it had. So is Runes Bury Tomorrow's ground breaker? Well potentially actually, but it is unfair to compare it to Sempiternal as it makes its own head pounding, unrelenting kind of impact, and proves to be one of the best albums of the year so far.
Bury Tomorrow have always excelled at writing crushing tunes, break downs aplenty with a real grit your teeth kind of attitude, and it is no different here. With Runes though the band, whilst keeping the hardcore element to their music, have explored other avenues, which makes for more exciting listening. The guitar work in particular is perhaps more intricate than on previous records, something that becomes clearer the more you listen.
Opening track Man On Fire makes you want to punch things, but the soaring cleaner vocals carry heart wrenching emotion. Other highlights on the album include The Torch and Year Of The Harvest with the latter especially implementing some truly excellent Metalcore riffs. It's impossible to review a Metalcore album and not mention the fathers of the scene, Killswitch Engage, and the influences are expectedly very clear through some tracks. They definitely don't hold back on wondering down a more Hardcore path though, with some of the breakdowns on the album sure to cause some very sore necks. The track Our Gift basically opens with a breakdown style riff and really smacks you in the mouth midway through the album, but it only takes two minutes before they out heavy even themselves.
The album is strong, drawing together all the elements most of the Bury Tomorrow fanbase would be after, whilst also having an accessible feel, leaving it open to both new fans of the scene and the band. Perhaps one of the key weaknesses on the album is the fact that across some tunes they follow quite a stringent formula. Front man Dani has great clean vocals but those sections began to feel a bit samey as the album progressed. He is certainly at his absolute best throwing down into the harsher vocals. Either way there is no real reason at all to avoid this album; in fact you should actively give it a listen. If you're a Metalcore fan it is an absolute no brainer, but even if you're not a fan of that particular scene don't be put off in any way and just look to appreciate Runes for what it is; a great album full of brilliantly heavy tracks.