Buried in Verona: Notorious

You can't go wrong with Buried in Verona's latest release if you're looking for a slice of intense, anger-driven music. The important things is, though, that this time around the Australian metalcore masters decided to add some inspired rock elements to their typical brew of wild sounds and ungodly screams – and it all works surprisingly well!

Perhaps the most shocking example of BIV's new direction is the fifth track on the album, "LionHeart". It offers none of the ingredients one would usually expect from this band, but it's simply impossible to argue it's a weak track. "LionHeart"'s catchy melodies, fine, clean vocals and overall cool-rather-than-angry attitude make for a truly addictive track. One that some longtime fans of the band will call "too damn mainstream", but it doesn't make it any less great, does it? And anyway, I wasn't kidding when I said that there's more than a fair share of "intense, anger-driven music" here as well. The opener called "Maybe Next Time", sporting barbaric vocals and badass lyrics (the latter a bit too hackneyed for my taste) is as far from "mainstream" as you can imagine, and "Couldn't Give 34 Fucks" is everything you've ever loved about Buried in Verona: it's raw, it's unbelievably energetic and it immediately gets under your skin.

You could perhaps list at least half of the album as the band's new killer tracks. "Four Years", "Miles Away", "Can't Let It Go" and "Forget What You Know" are all, in my humble opinion, a perfect mixture of the old, ultra-aggressive BIV with the more varied and casual listener-friendly approach they seem to be currently aiming at. This makes Notorious their most satisfying album to date, but as much as I like listening to BIV flirting with the mainstream, I'm slightly afraid they may cross the line between "the wild" and "too slick" at some point.

For now, though, let's enjoy Buried in Verona's latest effort as it truly is the essence of all the band's strengths!

Tracklisting:
1. Maybe Next Time
2. Four Years
3. Miles Away
4. Can't Let It Go
5. LionHeart
6. Couldn't Give 34 Fucks
7. Perceptions
8. The Decent
9. Forget What You Know
10. Finders Keepers
11. Last Words
12. Ivory

Added: December 24th 2012
Reviewer: Bartek Paszylk
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 2061
Language: english

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