Burnt by the Sun - Heart of Darkness
The final album from Burnt By The Sun has the band going out strong. Heart of Darkness is probably as representative of their sound as any of their albums could be. The heavy riffs are there, the hardcore style vocals and beats, and the straightforward guitars all combine in their signature metalcore sound. After a self imposed hiatus, the band has reformed to put forth this final effort and go out at the top of their game, like Seinfeld.
This album showcases a slightly expanded range for BBTS as a band. They step out of the confines of the last two albums in a positive way with more varied riffs. Nothing very drastic here stylistically, but changes are refreshing to hear in this type of music which has been criticized as being a little monotonous at times. Of course, the people claiming metalcore monotony are typically the puffy shirt progressive guys, but still, there is probably some truth there. Vocally Mike Olender delivers his intense sound at full strength, there is no let down here and no reason to worry, though he left the group for a while he clearly put 100% into Heart of Darkness. The same can be said of drummer Dave Witte, classic metal and hardcore drumming, combined and fitting seamlessly in every track. John Adubuto and Nick Hale have delivered as well, the riffs are all pretty strong, there is no overt filler material and there are some real moments of crushing excellence. Teddy Patterson adds a growly low end to fill out the sound and bridge the guitars and drums. BBTS have always had an an almost organic mechanical feel to the riffs, and Heart of Darkness is no exception as demonstrated by tracks like F-Unit and There Will Be Blood.
All in all this is a great album to end on. No slowly dying out, grasping at straws in any feeble attempt to hold on to the glory days like an aging rock star whose latest albums are so bad they embarrass the listener and are only heard in cheesy retail outlets. This is very likely the best of what Burnt By The Sun has put out to date, and a perfect way to close out this part of their musical careers.
Rating System
Thrash Magazine's overall rating system is based on the following criteria. Burnt by the Sun received a 8.3 because of the following:
Instrumental Rating (1-30): 24
Vocal Rating (1-30): 23
Lyrical Rating (1-25): 23
Presentation Rating (1-15): 13