BURY THE ARCHIVE hail from Bristol where they’ve managed to garner a following based on their melodic take on metalcore and a reputedly impressive live show. Musically they occupy a space between speedy, technical metal, Finch‘s melodic moments and Rise Against‘s heaviest material. Title track and EP opener, ‘A Knife In The Back Never Felt So Good’, kicks off with a classic punk trademark, the ‘political speech quote’ before the bass and drums satisfyingly build the song up almost like a beefed up John Carpenter soundtrack.
Standout track ‘New Ground’ is characterised by the band’s strongest elements; tight, astonishingly complex drumming and equally excellent lead guitar, the finger tapping locking in with the drum rolls so fluidly its as if one giant instrument is producing all the sounds itself. Clean guitars and atmospheric synths make an appearance too before the song breaks into a decent crescendo with vocalist Danny visiting death-metal territory to further push the intensity.
One thing that needs work however, is the lyrics, which are occasionally glaringly weak, the repeated line “Wake up you silly bitch, I’ll fucking spit on you.” on ‘Gone Forever’ seem to be the product of some rather misguided aggression, in songs that, especially with the intensity of the musical arrangements, would benefit from some razor sharp political satire or even something slightly more poetic than the repeated line example given here.
The musical talent on show here exhibits great promise and with some perseverance and polish, Bury The Archive could well be a force to be reckoned with.
ROGER HOLLAND