Burst – Origo

(Relapse Records, 9 tracks, 46 minutes, 51 seconds, Reviewed by Adam McAuley)

Very energetic molten hardcore is what is crafted by the band Burst. They are able to breath fresh air into a genre that at times could seem one dimensional, but is here given the passion needed to work within multiple dimensions. They bring an emotionally charged type of musical tempo to the metal landscape and are thus able to raise themselves into a niche of their own.

One of the primary things you’ll notice when listening to Origo is how it’s a more varied and dynamic work than Prey on Life was and the improvements in terms of deep song-writing tendencies illuminate the work well. There is a greater tendency to verge towards softer, acoustic like moments here and there is also an abundance of memorable stand out sections.

Origo shows a great progression in terms of incorporating nuances that stick out within the listener’s mind. See the introductory portions of track 6, “Homebound”, for example, regarding when a change of pace nicely complements the style of the work. The earliest moments of the album show a similar ability to build up from sparse moments , winto more momentous sections quite splendidly.

Further stellar moments on the album include the song “The Immateria” which features cascading riffing atop perfectly complementing abrasive singing. It has a passionate approach that is largely one of the better moments of the album as it builds up into exciting moments from the start quite effectively.

Lyrically, we can see Origo taking a sort of hopeless vibe with their views often shifting towards pastures of nothingness in a bleak, but entertaining fashion. This can be related to the manners their music shifts to different types of pastures quite effectively and approaches a state of bleakness similarly as well.

So, is our relationship to the band elevated by this work. I would say it is to some extent because Origo is a step up from Prey on Life and bodes well for the their upcoming work Lazarus Bird. It shows the manners that hardcore can improve in interesting new directions to add layers of depth to their repertoire.

And thus Burst put out a great new album in the form of Origo. It has all of the variety necessary to hold one’s interest quite effectively throughout. If there are any problems with the album, it’s that the band hasn’t completely opened up their new sounds for an entirely masterful effect yet, which might come to full fruition when listening to their upcoming release Lazarus Bird.