Album/EP

Bury Tomorrow – The Seventh Sun (Album Review)

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Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Mar 26, 2023

7 min read

Bury Tomorrow – The Seventh Sun
Released: March 31^st, 2023

Lineup:

Daniel Winter-Bates // Vocals
Kristan Dawson // Lead Guitar
Ed Hartwell // Rhythm Guitar
Davyd Winter-Bates // Bass
Adam Jackson // Drums
Tom Prendergast // Keyboards & Vocals

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Bury Tomorrow need no introduction. They have been dropping metalcore bangers for over a decade now and will release their seventh album, The Seventh Sun later this week. I have been a big fan of the band since their second album The Union of Crowns. I don’t think I would be alone in saying that previous clean vocalist (and guitarist) Jason Cameron was one of my favourites from the genre, so it is safe to say I was a little apprehensive when the news of his departure hit. The band then dropped two standalone singles, ‘DEATH’ and ‘LIFE’ that showcased new clean vocalist Tom Prendergast’s pipes and helped ease some of that worry.

Bury Tomorrow continued to crush that apprehension by releasing four singles over the past five months: ‘Abandon Us’, ‘Boltcutter’, ‘Heretic’, and ‘Begin Again’. These singles served up the platter of anthemic choruses, shreddy guitar riffs and leads, and a few crushing breakdowns the band are known for. Vocally, it was obvious Daniel Winter-Bates had been putting in some work, with his screams sounding better than ever throughout an expanded range. Prendergast continued to impress, stepping into the very big shoes that were left to fill, matching the performance of his predecessor, yet not simply a copy-paste. With the four singles being a treat, how does the rest of the album stack up?

Album opener ‘The Seventh Sun’ along with ‘Care’ are heavy-hitters, chock full of chunky riffs and beats that will have heads rocking and fists pumping. ‘The Seventh Sun’ checked my good opening track boxes by hyping me up with an intense and building intro, sinking into a heavy groove I could bounce along to, and casting a few hooks into my brain with those chorus vocal melodies. ‘Care’ on the other hand, smashes you in the face with no warning in the opening second before tending to the wounds it caused with a soothing, descending chorus melody, and goes back and forth from abuse, particularly that mid-track breakdown, to (excuse the blatancy) ‘Care’ for the rest of the song.

‘Forced Divide’ and ‘Wrath’ deliver a more chaotic feel, with faster tempos, shreddy guitar work and double-kick driven mayhem throughout. These tracks will be a highlight for guitarists and really allow Kristan Dawson and Ed Hartwell to shine. Though where ‘Forced Divide’ is blistering guitar-work from start to finish including the closing breakdown (read: shred-down), ‘Wrath’ has brief moments of respite where symphonic melodies take over, and also features an epic ending complete with duelling clean and scream vocals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lzOZpKlFKk&ab_channel=BuryTomorrowVEVO

‘Recovery?’ and ‘The Carcass King’ are the (heavy) power ballads of the album. Both offerings see Dan delivering emotion-filled screams while Tom’s cleans during the choruses are a bit more drawn out. ‘Recovery?’ is the heavier of the two and has a gnarly guitar riff opening the track while ‘The Carcass King’ leans more to the melodic side, with a short-but-sweet guitar solo and also features some divine female vocals, both solo and combined with Dan and Tom. ‘The Carcass King’ isn’t only melodic though and gets some mud on its face during a couple mini-breakdowns.

That leaves ‘Majesty’. On first listen, some might think it is one of those skip-able mid-album interludes. Tom draws you in with angelic vocals over a slow keys melody as the song slowly builds and builds. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge,….but, then some heavy open guitar chords, cymbal crashes, and violins hit. The full band finally kicks in and when Dan lets out a menacing growl the dopamine hit is surreal. Both vocalists than duel it out for the remainder of the track. This is the sleeper track of the album and released some big earworms into my head. Trust me, you’ll have “For all I’ve seen, depravity, of graviittyyyyy, distancing, you’re calling me, MAAJJJEEESSSTTTYYY” on your mind for a while after listening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-ULISYZXhM&ab_channel=BuryTomorrowVEVO

I was planning on doing a best song, best riff, best chorus type thing for this review, but honestly the beastly number that is ‘Heretic’ ruined that for me. It is easily my favourite. The verse riff is massive and aggressive. While She Sleeps' forntman Loz Taylor features for a sick verse. The solo absolutely rips. The song closing riff/breakdown is immense and Dan’s lows are otherworldly. And don’t even get me started on that chorus…

The Seventh Sun does everything fans are going to want from a Bury Tomorrow album. It is full of sing along choruses, massive riffs, and of course demonic screams and angelic cleans. Throw in a couple of tasty breakdowns and guitar solos for good measure and were onto the usual winning recipe. Given the major lineup change, I think Bury Tomorrow have delivered a note-worthy effort, staying true to their roots, and thickening their trunk, while experimenting with the new lineup's potential just enough to grow a few new branches.

The Seventh Sun will feature heavily in my rotation and I’m pumped to see some of these tracks live when they tour Australia later this year.