LAZARUS BIRD

This album is prime progressive metal genius. There are long compositions with unorthodox and extraordinary approaches to songwriting. The album is brilliantly crafted, there is no doubt about it. The only problem some might have is the lack of clean vocals, but otherwise, the album is exceptional.

It seems a shame to me that not many people know this band from Sweden. They have unbelievable musicianship and too small a fan base than what that should entail. If any lovers of prog-metal out there stumble upon this review, Burst is absolutely a band that you should hear. With more support this band's genius could breach it's current borders and show everyone it's brilliance.

This band has definately improved in the latter of its years. It has advanced from a punk metal sound into a clearly progressive sounding ensemble. Their use of growl and clean vocals makes their ambient spectrum almost limitless. The vocals range from a deep baritone to an impressive soprano. The instrumental aspects of this band are clearly a powerful force. They use different instruments that are not seen in most metal and even the guitar tones are more rock sounding than metal. Some parts of the music sound like an ambient minimalist song which changes to a groove metal sound then to an underwater melotrone, comparable to Opeth.

The songs are all incredibly put together and showcase the band's articulate and captivating nature. The ones that truly stand out are We Watched The Silver Rain, I Hold Vertigo, and Cripple God as well as the melodically encompassing wanderings of City Cloaked.

Influences and similar artists of Burst's sound that I can hear are Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Isis, Mastodon, Dream Theater, Spock's Beard, Baroness and (vocally, at certain points) System of a Down. The band switches genres a lot, as mentioned before. There is always a metal undertone but there are so many extra elements fused into the work. Some are: Doom, Jazz, Thrash, Blues, Classical, Egyptian, Grindcore and use of augmented and unconventional chord structures.

I have to conclude that this album deserves, at the very least, a 4.8 out of 5. It has greatly influenced the music I produce and I hope it will take a similar effect on many others. If you don't appreciate this album as a great work of the progressive genre your head probably isn't screwed on just right.