Live Burial – Unending Futility (Transcending Obscurity Records. 2020).
After the killer debut album, Forced Back To Life, the Newcastle Death Metal maniacs have returned with a vengeance, unleashing a savage slab of putrid Death Metal dripping in gore. The album kicks off with the fantastic intro riff for the song Seeping into the Earth, which is imbued with a sombre atmosphere and is reminiscent of a riff from the song from Separation Through Evisceration the Live Burial EP. Things very quickly descend into madness, as you’re plunged into a whirlwind of riffs and the tortured vocals of Jamie Brown. The influences of classic Death Metal bands abound, with the riffs in the section starting around the 01:30 mark in the song The Swing of the Pendulum reminding me of Severed Survival era Autopsy. The song The Swing of the Pendulum itself is a fine example of the fantastic song-writing that is to be found on the album, with some absolutely crushing doomier riffs seamlessly transitioning into break-neck speed, high-intensity chaos. There are some parts of the album where I believe there may have been some influence coming from Finland, more specifically from Solothus. This is to be found, in my opinion, in the song The Crypt of Slumbering Madness, which sounds as if there may be some influences, specifically the more sombre beginning and the section around the 02:30 mark. Either way, it is a beast of a song, with crushing doomy riffs that possess an overpowering feeling of futility. You can feel the sorrow and regret of the protagonist of the lyrics, especially with the riffs from around the 05:30 mark, which accentuates the melancholic nature of the song perfectly and adds to the emotional power of the song. This highlights some of the ways in which Live Burial are evolving, with new elements added to the Asphyx/Autopsy influenced Death/Doom Metal kernel. Indeed, this continues in the following song Rotting on the Rope, which ends on a somewhat more melodic riff, with a morbid melody to add to the sorrowful atmosphere. Production wise, there are few complaints, with all instruments being balanced perfectly in the mix and the guitars sounding suitably raw when they need to. The finale to this deadly album is the morbid Cemetery Fog, which features guest vocals from Kari Kankaanpaa from Solothus around the 03:30, which adds to the ghoulish atmosphere, helping to conjure the chthonic spirits of the song to manifest and drag you into the foetid darkness of the crypt. Live Burial have produced a fantastic slab of melancholic, macabre Death Metal that should be on the list for musts for this year.
8.75/10.
SADISTIC SCREAMS 