Band:	Bury Tomorrow
Album:	The Seventh Sun
Style:	Melodic metalcore
Release date:	March 31, 2023
A review by:	omne metallum

01. The Seventh Sun
02. Abandon Us
03. Begin Again
04. Forced Divide
05. Boltcutter
06. Wrath
07. Majesty
08. Heretic
09. Recovery?
10. Care
11. The Carcass King

3rd rock from the (seventh) sun. 

British metalcore has long found itself at a crossroads; its decades-long maturation from budding youthful scene has long given way to many of its seminal bands now finding themselves treading arena stage boards as opposed to small pubs and clubs. This has presented these bands a tough career choice: either cut the ties with the genre and scene's established sound in favour of a slicker, softer and more melodic sound that will play better to a larger audience; or stick to their roots and maintain a heavier edge. Bury Tomorrow seem torn on which path to take; whereas prior album Cannibal had no qualms about taking the latter path, with a solid mix of melody within, The Seventh Sun tries to straddle the middle ground and keep a foot on each path, leading to a confused, and somewhat messy, final product. 

For a musical end product that resembles that of an identity crisis, The Seventh Sun is a strong album and one that belies its inner turmoil, with the band confident in their work, if not always their direction. Bury Tomorrow refuse to be pigeonholed, yet at the same time seem unsure of whether to fly with, or against, the wind. This leads to a collection of songs that, on the one hand, want to rip and tear, while sat next to songs that want to be mellower yet, as if unsure of whether to fully commit, still contain harsh vocals or ill-fitting heavy parts. 

While the band do expand their horizons with the additions of electronics (curtsey of new member Tom Prendergast) such as on "Begin Again", they do so to enhance the track rather than dilute its impact, with the shimmering atmospherics filling out the sound as the slamming drums and cutting guitars still take centre stage. There are, however, some tracks that place more empathsis on the melody than on the heaviness, with the closing tandem of "Care" and "The Carcass King" tipping the scales with less abrasive instrumentation. Perhaps the most successful synthesis of this sound is "Wrath", a hard-hitting track with some nice background violins that sit either side of an addictive chorus. 

This isn't to say that The Seventh Sun doesn't have teeth, because when Bury Tomorrow bite, they draw blood. "Heretic" and "Forced Divide" are powerful tracks that hark back to the band's formative years, while "Abandon Us" could easily fit on Earthbound, both in quality and audio terms. Daniel Winter Bates remains one of the best harsh vocalists in the genre, with his raspy roars not only sounding perfect for death metal, but giving that extra edge to the powerful attack of Dawson and Hartwell. 

What holds The Seventh Son back isn't its lack of ambition nor its attempt to bridge an ever widening divide, it's that the songwriting doesn't quite live up to the lofty aims of the band. "Majesty" would likely sound great live, with the intention and shape of the song looking solid, it's just that its recorded incarnation here doesn't breathe enough life into itself to work properly. Similar can be said of "Recovery?", a song that looks good on paper, but the band don't execute it well. 

While I appreciate Bury Tomorrow's desire not to sever the ties with their roots wholly as they expand their horizons, the resulting dichotomy that is The Seventh Son suffers from its indecision, leading to a good end product, but one that sees the band taking smaller steps as opposed to the big leap they clearly want to make. I can't begrudge the band for their ambition, just their execution.