Upon a Burning Body : " Fury"

This Texas band is now on LP number 6. It is pretty much one dimensional hyper aggressive metal core, leaning more on the hard-core side though they are obviously big Slayer fans. They have perfected their sound, and this is well played and produced, but is that not the bare minimum we should accept from a band 6 albums deep into their career. They are pretty much just working through a formulaic approach to song writing, If you miss what Lamb of God, used to do, then you are in luck, if you are observant enough to notice that this is like a hundred other bands you have heard before then you are in the same boat as me.  

When I am already four songs invested in an album it is hard for me to turn back now. "Meltdown" might be the most effective in terms of groove and hooks. "Thunderhook" is a powerful chug, and hammering double bass, but it is the rare appearance of melodic vocals that make this more worth listening to.  They build off this with "Kill the Ego" which is what this album needs is more hook.  "Clarity" is effective for what they are doing, I think it is important they switch up what they are doing by the time they get to "Sweet Serentiy" even though it is jut an interlude and should have been worked into an actual song.   Lamb of God is not the only band they are inspired by as "Who Am I" sounds like it could have been filler on a Slipknot album. 

The last two songs are pretty interchangeable except for the vocal of the last song. I will give this album a 7, which is being pretty generous to an album, I could not wait to be done with midway into it. But they are good at what they do, which is why they are getting such a high score for considering what this is. Nothing here is original but there is a market for that, the Fast and Furious Movies make a ton of cash, but they are written for people who never cracked open a book after high school, not a lot of depth on any front here, Sick guitar tones, sure if that is what you are into, but this album bored me, however if you do not want music with any depth to work out to or drive around and feel tough then these guys got you.  

Upon a Burning Body : "Southern Hostility"

If you took all the things that are the most meat and potatoes aspects of Pantera and Lamb of God and put that energy into metal core break downs then you would have this band. My favorite thing about them is their cover of "Turn Down Down For What". Nothing in the first few songs comes close to having that groove , but the singer is not trying to rap either. By the time we get to "All Pride No Pain" it seems like riffs are being recycled . There are a few cool ones that creep in, but the rule around here is cool riffs alone do not a good song make. They are more powerful when they slow down and  get more deliberate in their chug. On "From Darkness" they let you know that they also like Slayer, but grew up listening to Slipknot and found Slayer after the fact. He sings on the chorus which is a step forward.

They are very inconsistent . "the Champ is Coming" is so stupid it sounds like it should be a wrestlers entrance music. The riff leading into "Burn" sounds like it could be from a King Diamond song, but that riff is by and large the songs' coolest moment. It does reoccur in the song. There is also a decent amount of groove to the song, so it is a step in the right direction. "Reinventing Hatred" is pretty much color by numbers metal core, the lyrics just giving it a slight edge. Then there is groove gon wrong that makes them sound more like Avenged Sevenfold on The tinge of Slipknot also flares up in the way the song kind of swings like "Pyschosocial",.By "Anthem of the Doomed" all the chugs have run together and are boring me shitless.

There is a more traditional metal feel to the riff that opens "Soul Searcher". Then they pour the speed on and ruin everything. So much so they sung hook can not redeem this song. The make a decent attempt trying to come back from it and then they speed up and flush it down the toilet. I will round this down to a 7. It does not suck. It is not my thing as I would just rather listen to Pantera or Slayer both of whom do this better. If you are a fan of these guys then this is the glue you have been looking to sniff, you could have made worse choices, so you are better off than listening other Myspace metal.