Album Review: The Burning Season - 'Onward Anthem'
More of the same, but enjoyable nonetheless…
Upon first listen, I thought I
had my review of “Onward Anthem” sorted. There’s an abundance
of pseudo European metal riffs, token cleanly sung vocals and yes, breakdowns!
God how we love breakdowns!
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After giving the record a few
spins, I found “The Burning Season” have something more to offer
than your average “I’m down with neck tattoos but sing about girls
hurting my feelings” band. That’s not to say this record is in any way
going to redefine the genre or take the band to a greater level of popularity,
but it does have its moments.
It’s quite common that a vocalist
will usually determine how much you like a band and unfortunately for
“The Burning Season”, Mike Josleyn sounds too similar to Atreyu’s
front man for my liking. Its not that his screams are overly bad, but
they sound really over produced and lacking any real conviction.
Bryan Zimmerman provides all of
the clean vocals for TBS and he does an admirable job. While his voice
isn’t going to win him a Grammy any time soon the guy has a knack
for writing a hook. Couple this with the more melodious moments of “The
Burning Season’s” repertoire and you’re left with some catchy
tunes.
The Bullet” are the standout tracks for me. Both have vocal hooks
which get stuck in your head on the first listen and the guitar work is probably
the catchiest thing that a band on Eulogy has ever churned out. The
melodic punk elements on this record are better than two thirds of the
shit that’s on the Warped Tour this year - seriously, there’s some
riffs which border on pogo mosh and some of the mid paced moments are
destined for sing-a-longs - and if the band focused on this aspect of
their song writing then there’s no reason why they couldn’t jump
on tours with a band like Set Your Goals.
Unfortunately, TBS still feel
the need to dabble in the mosh game. Just when I’m really starting
to get into “Onward Anthem” along comes an unnecessary breakdown.
If they stopped giving a shit about writing songs which will get kids
in the pit excited, then The Burning Season could develop into
a really good band – as opposed to an average metalcore band.
I’ll definitely be keeping my
eye on The Burning Season from here on in. They’ve got the potential
to write a really great record – here’s hoping they do it!
Props to the lead guitarist as
well, the guy can fucking wail!
- The Broadcast
- Something More
- Bite The Bullet
- Morse Code Romance
- Dear Seductress
- The Onward Anthem
- Wearing Thin
- Pick Up The Pieces
- Throwi
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