Band:	Bury Your Dead
Album:	It's Nothing Personal
Style:	Metalcore
Release date:	May 26, 2009
Guest review by:	omne metallum

01. Hurting Not Helping
02. Without You
03. Broken Body
04. The Great Demonizer
05. Dead End Lovesong
06. Swan Song
07. Lakota
08. The Forgotten [feat. Frankie Palmeri]
09. Lion's Den
10. Legacy Of Ashes
11. Closed Eyes
12. Enough

Boston metalcore crew Bury Your Dead return on their fifth album as a band wanting to switch up their formula. It's Nothing Personal is the result of this experiment in tinkering with their sound. The band offer up a very vanilla-flavoured album; while enjoyable, it is nothing that will have your taste buds clamouring for more.

The band made a conscious decision on this album to put in more melodic elements than before and the results are glaringly obvious; this conscious effort brings with it pros and cons that re-occur with most songs on the record. The band on most occasions offer up the songs separately, some heavier and some lighter more melodic tracks; while it isn't bad, they don't flow naturally between the two, and as a result it can be a jarring experience. The pro is that when they separate the two they are able to focus with more precision rather than end up tying their hands by blending both elements.

It's Nothing Personal does contain three tracks that show a level of quality beyond that of the rest of the album. "Hurting Not Helping" is a more mellow run through with melodic vocals laid upon guitar work that slams along for the song's verses. "Legacy Of Ashes" mixes the two elements well and you end up with a song whose chorus sits serene in a sea of choppy and violent waves. "Broken Body" is the true highlight of the record though; hooking you in with its guitar work, you are pulled along as the song envelops you and you come out the other side of the track wishing the rest of the album could be in the same vein.

The band are adept on their instruments and do offer up some passages of music that will catch your ear and have you rewinding the track to pay closer attention to what had caught your attention. Terry is an underrated vocalist in the metalcore scene; his softer sung vocals are very reminiscent of Howard Jones and are often the highlight of a track. Castillo and Patrick ultimately offer up little that is unique from other metalcore bands, but that is not to say they are bad musicians. Towning and MacDonald have it in them to play and write some great guitar riffs, but they don't do it often enough on the album to really elevate it as a whole.

The main problem that afflicts It's Nothing Personal though is that the songs are by and large average, nothing bad but nothing to really grab your attention and warrant close listening. This is pretty damning for a band as it means they often don't stand out in the sea of competition they find themselves swimming in. While the album has the life boat of 3 great songs to cling to, ultimately it's not enough to pull the album up by its bootstraps.

It's Nothing Personal is an ok listen, not something I would seek out beyond three tracks and will probably sit nestled in a stack of CDs for a long time. Bury Your Dead have done much better than this, and so I would stick to their other records before turning your attention here.