The Burial - The Winepress

Artist: The Burial
Album: The Winepress
Release Date: 8/17/10
Label: Strike First Records

For those of you who may have missed The Burial's debut EP Age of Deceit, you missed quite a debut. It was quite the breath of air for a stagnant scene. Age of Deceit was filled with brutal yet technical metalcore. Fast forward almost a year and a half later and The Burial are back with their latest album, The Winepress.

A lot has changed in the time between albums for these guys. David Marshall has been brought in for vocal duties, the band has changed record labels from Sancrosanct to Strike First and The Winepress was delayed two months due to that change. Thankfully for the band, these changes are for the best.

The Winepress is a no-holds barred display of brutal, technical metalcore, at times having a deathcore feel to the heaviness. These guys succeed in keeping things fresh for the listener. The songs are not built around chugging riffs or breakdowns, but use those to enhance the beautiful technicality of the guitar riffs. At certain points, I am even reminded of Embrace The Eternal-era Embodyment, with the combination of speed, brutal drumming and the constantly changing riffs.

The Burial even manage to throw in a beautiful instrumental called "Valley Of Decision" to give you a brief rest from their brand of pummeling brutality. Some of the highlights are the title track, with its slower tempo and nice guitar work, "Reconciliation" with its versatile vocals and changes in tempo, and "Delegation Of The Seven Plagues," with its speedy tempo and very technical guitar work.

Lyrically, The Burial do a great job in glorifying our Savior and encouraging believers to live a life of holiness without compromise. The one complaint I do have is the length. The Winepress only consists of eight tracks and less than twenty-eight minutes of music. This to me is even more strange considering the two month delay due to the changing of record labels.

Rating: 8/10 In this scene of copycats, The Burial do enough to stand out and not fall into the abyss of mediocrity. They would find it to their benefit to continue to explore their technical boundaries. The Burial do a great job of varying the tempo in such a brutal style. The Winepress is impressive, but I think they are only touching the tip of the iceberg that is their potential

Reviewed by Matthew Alexander

Tracklisting:

1. Intercessor
2. Demons Never Sleep
3. The Winepress
4. Reconciliation
5. Valley Of Decision
6. Delegation Of The Seven Plagues
7. Monolith
8. Death Conquered

(Buy Here)