Seeing a local band grow in size is always a great thing. Buried Above Ground are a band that have gone from Minnesota locals to a new, fresh face in the deathcore genre. On Tuesday, their new album “The Crown” released, and oddly enough it reminded of movies more than it did any form of music. The music breathes horror, and feels like something that would fit the soundtrack of a modern slasher movie. In terms of music though, this is more or less deathcore with a ton of atmosphere. Each song on here has its own creepy vibe that adds to the music. “The Crown” opens this album off, and begins this album on a heavy and chaotic note. Where another horror metal group, say Carach Angren, use haunting symphonies and ghost stories to create the horror vibe, Buried Above Ground goes for brutality and gore. This song shows that. It’s fast heavy, and the overall atmosphere is very dark.
“Doomed to Drown” is next, and focuses more on chugging and slows the pace down a bit. The lead guitar stands out on this song, and the outro adds to the horror aesthetic. A creepy piano opens up the next song, “Dig Your Grave”. The opening riff is solid, and leads into the main body of the song, which is heavy as hell. The writing on this track is solid as hell. This song also features a well-executed breakdown. “Sineater” begins the second half of the album. The opening guitar is very haunting, and the lead guitar is solid as well. The pace is sped up a bit, and the writing is as tight as ever. This song also has another breakdown towards the end that is also well done. “You Bleed so Beautiful” is the longest song on the album, and is also probably the best. The pacing is fast, is remains heavy as hell throughout, and at the same time has hints of melody that feel refreshing. The writing on here pulls all three of those things together very cohesively.
The album ends with “March to the Gallows”, which has a creepy opening. The writing here is solid, and there is some slight tech influence on here as well. This is a good song, but doesn’t feel like the finally I enjoy from final songs. This is really good. At times the production can be a little weird, and the horror tropes force the band to start and end the songs with an ambient piece that at times can be a bit repetitive, but the writing and composition is really strong. For fans of horror or deathcore, this is one that should be scoped out.
Overall Score: 8.5/10
Review by Sam Hookom
