Burnt By The Sun

One bite, two bites, three bites, gore! That's probably how a scene for one of these tracks would read if Burnt By The Sun's album was made into a movie. The title itself, Soundtrack to the Personal Revolution, recognizes the record's potential to support a corporate-condemning war against the socially defined connection between consumption and identity. But, you could never tell it from the lyrics -- that's because you can't understand a damn word. And this, my friends, is a good thing.

BBTS's Relapse release plays just as its title suggests: like a soundtrack. Without a constant eye on the digital track numbers, you can't tell when one song ends and another begins. Each track is filled with an artillery barrage of double-bass drums, Gatling-gun riffs and hell-born vocals a la Max Cavalera, without stretching past the three-minute mark. The temperamental roars, popping snares and instrumental massacres chase your damned soul back to where it belongs, while still managing to switch time signatures enough to break up each brutal scene. Using rhythmic and tonal intricacies, BBTS strays from the typically defined song layout that involves a repeat chorus, keeping you unsuspecting of the chaotic pits that lay open ahead.

With influences rooted in death, hardcore, grind, and even a surprising Opeth-inspired ballad to close the onslaught, BBTS assumes a place in the kingdom of metal, avoiding any wimpy prefixes (i.e. "nü"). They're distorted enough to sludge each vicious blow, but controlled enough to make each kick in the head distinctively brain-jarring. Hard to imagine that such depth came from New Jersey, huh? Well, in the words of vocalist Michael Olender, "Nothing makes sense like nonsense." (Jeannette Kaczorowski)