The fifth and final full-length record from Swedish band Burst is a bit of a Metalcore anomaly. More on that in a second. When a couple of the folks from Svbterranean mentioned the idea of doing a Metalcore column series my initial reaction was that I very much wanted to participate, but then it dawned on me: I’m not exactly up to speed with the genre these days. I think the last Metalcore release I actually listened to was Hot Damn by Buffalo legends Everytime I Die. So I did what any middle aged music nerd would do, I started googling “classic Metalcore records.” Much to my surprise, Lazarus Bird made many appearances in best of lists. It’s surprising because Burst to my ears heavily leans towards the progressive rock/metal sphere with their “song within a song” aesthetic (one that very much reminds me of Norwegian masters Enslaved.) Be that as it may, trying to dispute genres and pigeonhole music is a generally futile endeavor and Lazarus Bird is a bloody gem of a record. Complex, varied, and completely memorable.
