Origo, the previous release from Sweden's Burst, was an extremely solid slice of trippy modern metal, an album that really got the band noticed in many circles. The band is now back with the follow-up, the varied and complex Lazarus Bird. One hour's worth of many textures, moods, and colors, as the band fuses metalcore, psychedelic rock, prog, jazz, and ambient soundscapes, for a sound that keeps the listener constantly on edge and unsure of where the band will venture off to next. Opener "I Hold Vertigo" does a great job mixing up the metal bombast with trippy psych guitar noodlings, vocals going from harsh to quiet, and a formula that also rears its head on "I Exterminate The I", with nimble jazz drum work providing the busy undercurrent to plenty of effects laden, liquid guitar lines, as the band fully embrace their late 60's/early 70's prog & psych influences, but not for long before the boys crash back into the mix with powerful metal & hardcore fury. Sonically, this is potent stuff, the band attacking on many levels, never staying in one place long enough to ensure that your full attention is locked in. Most of the songs are fairly lengthy and allow for extended musical journeys, but don't expect lots of solos here, as this band is not about that at all. "We Are Dust" is 7+ minutes of dripping melancholy, brooding at the outset with plenty of atmospherics and effects, morphing into a crushing metalcore number at the finale, while "Cripple God" is a furiously heavy number, yet interjected with some jazz passages to keep things interesting. The band steps into their prog shoes on the complex "Nineteenhundred", featuring plenty of intricate & weaving guitar lines and wild drum work, the vocals a mix of clean, shouts, and growls, while the latter two near 10 minute pieces "(We Watched) The Silver Rain" and "City Cloaked" offer up more trippy, psychedelic metal, juggling between the bombast and the tranquil, something this band does so well.
Much like the latest from Intronaut, Lazarus Bird shows a band that is really looking to expand upon how metal is normally delivered. This is intelligent and progressive stuff here, and it's about time this band receives the acclaim they so rightly deserve.
Track Listing
1. I Hold Vertigo 7:16
2. I Exterminate The I 6:58
3. We Are Dust 7:12
4. Momentum 4:34
5. Cripple God 6:42
6. Nineteenhundred 7:54
7. (We Watched) The Silver Rain 9:52
8. City Cloaked 9:23
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