While there are no shortage of good musicians on this record, they aren’t doing much of anything. The production is great, the songs are heavy as hell, but that’s about all that’s going on. BYD have taken a step back with new vocalist Myke Terry (ex-Cassius), throwing a slew of metalcore staples and clichés in one pot, hoping the heaviness will carry it through.
It is a recipe for tedium, the tracks on this record sound like one big mash-up. Rather than bringing something new to the table, BYD have cranked out just over 30 minutes of half assed genre blending: Numetal sounding vocals that come from nowhere in almost every song, a pop-punk chord progression in “Fool’s Gold” that creeps in between heavy verses, it seems like these guys just didn’t want the intro to sound the same on every track of this album, and tweaked everything just enough to give some semblance of variety.
This record is a disappointment by comparison. Listening to 2004’s “Cover your Tracks” in the same sitting makes one wonder what the hell happened, and unfortunately the band lost a lot of their momentum and energy from previous records.
I wouldn’t write bury your dead off just yet, they just need more of a front man and visionary to pull them out of this generic slump.
-Studwell
