Album Review: Burial - Rejoice In Sin

 

Burial  - Rejoice In Sin

By Jools Green 

Release date: out now (Apocalyptic Witchcraft)

Back with their fourth studio full length, Rejoice In Sin, are Manchester’s Burial, delivering another icy slice of blasphemous Black Metal, once again reflecting, sound wise both the Norwegian origins of the genre alongside a notably grim British element, don’t expect anything fancy, it’s straight up, stripped back Black Metal that is an atmospheric, yet icily bleak listen that is well delivered with sheer conviction and brutal intent.

The Burial line-up features Derek Carley on vocals and bass, known for his work with both Wolfbastard and Foetal Juice, Dave Buchan drums also from Wolfbastard with Richard Barraclough on guitars, and as you would hope, featuring that element of northern charm and humour of Derek’s other bands.

The first three pieces Rejoice in Sin, Wretched Is This Life and Sadism for God all hit you with an intense and driving wall of undulating riffing with acidic vocals coursing over, all three  very classically styled Black Metal pieces, straightforward but superbly constructed and executed with Sadism for God’s pace dropping back  to an engaging Black ‘n’ Roll and an evil laugh midway through, which I love.

A Fear More Grave delivers a noticeable Crustpunk undercurrent alongside an engaging black drive and Derek excels on his vocal delivery on this track with his range of voices.

The Wolfskin is haunting and dark with an atmospherically melodic aspect but packs a punch and is delivered with unshakable determination and intensity especially the huge swathes of driving tremolo picking and there’s a nice acidic edge to the vocals too.

Sharp undulating riffs forge forward in hypnotic repeating waves on Let Darkness Reign as the vocals cut jagged swathes through, it’s an unstoppable beast of a track and on the next piece Bastards of Christ hypnotic repeats once again meet acidic vocals and the repeating pause, drop and build in the sound adds extra dimension and interest.

Next is Putrid Grave, a full throttle assault of your senses, a perfect track to get the blood pumping and fists punching the air and when it drops in pace briefly, midway through, its sinister and crushing in the most dramatic manner imaginable, an anthemic listen that will be absolutely killer as a live piece and maintaining that full on, frontal assault is the penultimate piece Beneath the Trident, also encompassing poignant and well-placed slower moments which are dramatic and powerful, again, a hugely engaging piece.

The final piece Black Metal Cunt, certainly in the title and I think there’s a tongue in cheek element to the lyrics too, shows that element of Northern humour, musically it’s a powerfully delivered driving beast that once again packs a punch with superb ground shaking growls, a cheeky D-beat and superb waves of soaring riffing, a superb closer that makes you want to give the whole album another spin!

Rejoice In Sin, overall, is an excellent offering that delivers forty minutes of engaging Black Metal and is available as a CD, vinyl, cassette or digital download from  Rejoice In Sin | Burial | Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings