CD Reviews

Born from the ashes of Guernsey metal acts Silkinfly and Bindweed and with a member of Mid Carson Coalition thrown in too this was never going to be 'easy listening'. But it presented me with something even more extreme than I initially expected.

Fusing the Metal/Hardcore cross over style of bands such as Bullet For My Valentine, Killswitch Engage and Trivium (and any number of lesser bands to appear in the last year) with the essence of something more extreme My Last Victory have put together a set of 9 thoroughly crushing pieces of music for the modern metal fan.

Heavier than similar local acts such as the Mid Carson Coalition the musical style of My Last Victory is reminiscent of older metal acts such as the big 4 thrash bands of the 80's as well as the newer crop of talent such as Bullet For My Valentine or Trivium particularly in Luke Vidamour and Josh Fletcher's guitar parts which during solos at time also evoke the late great Dimebag Darrell Abbott of Pantera and Damageplan fame.

The rhythm section also evokes such bands while also adding a more extreme twist with Seann Bewey's drum parts particularly echoing more extreme acts like Fear Factory.

The hardcore aspect of their sound really comes to the fore in Jack Fletcher's vocals which suit the subject matter of their lyrics perfectly displaying the emotional turmoil presented in songs such as 'Scars and Memories' and 'Hard to Say'. This is also contrasted by the more melodic vocal sections which when coupled with the riffing and solos give the total hardcore metal package.

Many albums that fall into this genre often suffer from very flat production, even in the professional mainstream, which looses the anger and emotion necessary to create a true sense of purpose for the music however the production work presented here by Danny Joyce of Electric Index Studios does anything but that.

Quite often one of the main problems of the metalcore style is that the songs become repetative with similar structures and same-y solos, Bury These Thoughts however doesn't fall victim to this. It occaisionally threatens to but is always lifted by an instrumental track or interesting drum or guitar part that keeps it interesting and the 38 minute running time means it is not over stretching a point and allows it to keep the immediate nature of the music.