Review by Graham Finney
If you saw UK metallers Bury Tomorrow at Download Festival earlier this year, you’ll no doubt be aware of quite how confident the band were looking ahead of the release of Black Flame, their fifth album and first for new label, the legendary Music For Nations. Now, given that their new home, if you know your rock history, was the original home for metal heavyweights like Metallica and Slayer, it’s fair to say that big things are going to be expected from the band and this album.
Inside the industry some are already calling this the biggest release of Bury Tomorrow’s career so, as we’ve now got our hands on a copy, is this album the career defining moment that it needs to be? Well, that question gets well and truly answered when opener “No Less Violent” kicks this album off. A huge statement from the band, the track sets the tone for the rest of the album where, despite sounding as heavy as anything the band have done prior to this, the melodies are simply built for arenas. Quite honestly, describing this album as massive barely comes close to describe this monster of a record. The album continues with a thunderous “Adrenaline” while recent single “Knife Of Gold” sees Daniel Winter-Bates rage like he has never raged before. Listening to “Black Flame”, you really get the feeling that Bury Tomorrow have upped their game on every level. It feels like, until now, the band have been simply teasing us with their previous four offerings. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great albums but, as “Black Flame” stamps out a succession of anthems crammed with moshpit detonating breakdowns, delicious melodies and thunderous riffery, there is no denying that this time they’ve kicked their blueprint out of the ballpark.
Five years ago, there is no way that bands like Bring Me The Horizon and Parkway Drive would have ever been classed as leading lights in the metal scene but, times have changed and, these days, heavy is back with a bang. Bury Tomorrow have demonstrated with “Black Flame” that not only are they very ready to mix it with the big boys of the modern metal scene but that they are ready to lead a new generation of modern UK metal bands into battle.
Rating: 9/10
Track Listing:
1. No Less Violent
2. Adrenaline
3. Black Flame
4. My Revenge
5. More Than Mortal
6. Knife Of Gold
7. The Age
8. Stormbringer
9. Overcast
10. Peacekeeper
