There is something rejuvenating about the dawning of a new day. The next 24 hours are full of endless possibilities just ready for us to follow them. This is exactly what Southampton brood Bury Tomorrow does as they welcome The Seventh Sun.
Following 2020’s Cannibal, the band found themselves at an impasse. They had been heralded as British metalcore stalwarts yet were becoming stagnant. The material was still good, but it became uninspired. Predictable. That was until Death (Even Colder) and Life (Paradise Denied) came into play. The two standalone singles set the tone that there was fresh meat for us all to sink our teeth into. Heavy slabs of brutality built the bridge between Cannibal and The Seventh Sun.
Launching straight into the fray, the title track oozes atmosphere as it plants the idea of a demonic presence residing in Dani Winter-Bates’ distorted vocals. Bury Tomorrow constructs a wonderfully savage world around us as they open with a riff from new recruit Ed Hartwell. The density we hear from Hartwell and Kristan Dawson (guitar) is ferocious as Winter-Bates ruminates upon “a broken image with a shattered face”. Though Dani is not the only Winter-Bates to approach the band with new energy as brother Davyd attacks the basslines with a new found aggression. An opening track is usually a statement of intent for the rest of the album. This one however is an announcement of the dawning of a new age of Bury Tomorrow with the haunting proclamation “we are the children of the seventh sun”.
Proverbial door now kicked in, Bury Tomorrow capitalises on their statement in convincing fashion with single Abandon Us. It houses the chaos of a band such as SEPULTURA yet still feasts upon the typical clean choruses of metalcore. We’re not using metalcore as a four-letter word here, there are many bands which have saved the genre from itself. Abandon Us however takes metalcore and breathes new life into it with delicious guitar hooks and aggressive verses. Breaking the cycle leads into Begin Again, a look into how we have the control to reset the path we’re travelling on. We’re greeted with a seemingly brighter instrumental before the plea “erase me completely, start over” filters into the ear. Three tracks in and the improvement on Dani’s vocals is extraordinary. This is a man who poured himself into his craft and is finally reaping the rewards.
While Begin Again had keys from Tom Prendergast to slink through the midsection, Forced Divide is anything but sensual. Influence from The Black Dahlia Murder rules the roost in a cut-throat track where the knife is pointed at ourselves. It is relentless in its despondency as it expertly demonstrates anger is a secondary emotion compiled of sadness and the feeling of “I crave all I can never have”. Hartwell and Dawson’s guitars are thick and heady yet there is still a clarity between them. Yet it’s when Davyd takes the reins on the instrumental we see another facet to Bury Tomorrow. With keys and percussion bolstering the moment, Davyd is able to create a swelling instrumental with little more than a bass guitar.
“Break free from the facade of the tyranny” bellows Dani with Boltcutter. The single feeds from the standalones and puts the final pieces to the transition together. An ominous soundscape completes the puzzle yet there are so many elements indicative of The Seventh Sun not being the final destination. The lyrics alone are testament to Dani’s creative mind and passion for cadence. There isn’t a filler word or wasted syllable throughout the album. “Rise up and take back what you’re allowed” being an example of advocacy not only for those having to fight against themselves and their demons, but for himself.
We’re given a glimpse into the soul with introspective Wrath. The longest track on the album at just over five minutes, this isn’t the ballad people may think. Much like the emotion’s impact on thought patterns, Wrath is fast and feasts upon the hardcore elements that the bad should have been leaning into albums ago. Instrumentals buzz beneath clean vocals of melancholy. The strings before the midsection shoot chills up the spine before we are levelled with “I will embrace the end/ I’ll have to now”. Wrath is a beautiful exercise in catharsis: growls melt into cleans without one overshadowing the other. The ethereal nature of the closing moments leaves us with nothing but our emotional devastation.
It’s here we become ripe for Majesty’s picking. Prendergast’s echoing melody slips into the crevices of the brain, targeting “the comfort we find in dysfunction”. While there’s only one voice on the track, its layered nature buzzes with harmonies while it tears us apart. Majesty is an enchantingly understated song and easily one of the highlights of the record. A love letter to the strange period that was Covid; “it’s the knowledge we are slaves” hits a little harder. Majesty quickens within the second half with the inclusion of Adam Jackson’s drums. We’re fed the idea that a drop is about to come as we’re taken to the pinnacle but then a movement of strings blows us away while Dani’s guttural scream leaves us devoid of breath. Placing Heretic next in the tracklist was no accident or coincidence. The screeching vocals ooze death metal nuances. A chorus laden with vocal hooks claws its way into our internal monologue. Scratching at the door of society, While She Sleeps’ Loz Taylor exposes “the lies we’ve been fed” and the powerhouses combine to attack authority’s proclivity to “Consume, Ignore, Restrict, Behead”. That tandem alone is a huge moment for Bury Tomorrow who release themselves of their own confines and finally come into themselves as a heavyweight contender within the metal scene.
In a world filled with chaos and ruled by ruthless aggression, how do we live within that? It’s a question faced by Bury Tomorrow with Recovery as their answer. A slow build up blooms into intoxicating riffs. Guitars may chug but there is something soothing to Jackson’s beats beneath them. The chorus is rich. Prendergast’s tone feeling like the first sip of tea in the morning. “Silence has seen you through” speaks to the idea many of us will keep our struggles to ourselves which ultimately becomes our undoing as it then poses the question many of us may never know the answer to; “what is recovery”. While silence may be to our detriment, there are times where it protects us. Care’s sheer wall of noise is indicative of the frustration and betrayal we feel when someone close turns their back on us in our hour of need. “If empathy is the enemy, we’ve lost internally” trims the fat in brutal fashion and holds the mirror up to ourselves in a time where “be kind” comes with a caveat.
Care loses some of its shine when compared to the album’s closer. The final track on an album can make or break the catalogue. What we have with The Carcass King is possibly the band’s finest work. Dani’s screams over the minimalist intro has the vocalist tearing his heart out for our entertainment. Reminiscent of past material, the singer speaks of himself when he refers to a soul that is “tired of feeling the guilt”. The full instrumental comes in as we’re shown The Carcass King in full glory. A surprise feature from Cody Frost adds an element of vulnerability as she describes the feeling of “violently slipping from my existence”. It’s a wonderful contrast to the sharpness and dark undertones of the guitars in the following midsection before a molten guitar solo sweeps through the soundscape. As we take in the brutal drop into the bridge, we find ourselves checking the runtime, in disbelief we’re already at the closer. It’s the closing moments however which rule our thoughts; the broken delivery of “there’s no worship, only irony” tugs at the heartstrings of the empathetic and leaves us feeling emotionally levelled.
Summarising The Seventh Sun into a single paragraph when there is so much to say about the album proves difficult. Bury Tomorrow has evolved into the form we all know they could have taken years ago. No longer are they the underdog of British metalcore, or metal as a whole. This is a force to be reckoned with. The Seventh Sun is this band’s magnum opus, a masterpiece of ferocity and a must listen for any metal fan.
The Seventh Sun is available now via Music For Nations.
To purchase the album, head to the band’s online store.
