Buried Inside
Chronoclast
8.6
Hailing from Ottawa, Canada, Chronoclast is Buried Inside's third release. Earning a place amongst Relapse's prestigious roster, the album was originally written as one continuous 40 minute song. Still keeping their chaotic delivery, they now keep it in check and place it alongside far-reaching melodies, similar to Cult of Luna and later-era Breach. Gone are the breakdowns, and gone are the majority of the hardcore influence. Where their intent was clear on their last release, Suspect Symmetry, they've actually executed it and pushed it further this time around by trimming themselves down.
On the whole, the vocals are a typical hardcore yell paired with a gruff back up yell on occasion. The bass rides along beautifully with the guitar, providing further depth to Buried Inside's already monumental sound. The drumming is varied and minorly spastic without coming off as meandering or pointless. Ranging from doomy to anxious, the dual guitar melodies compliment each other beautifully, with one playing choppy lead material while the other strums lofty and expansive rhythms. Imagine an unhinged version of Isis with all the melody and all the otherworldly atmosphere, but actually building into potent aggression. "Time As Surrogate Religion" begins as a busy-sounding track similar to something you'd expect out of Burst and builds and swells through a series of time changes before delivering an installment of repetition and dissonance. "Reintroduction" is a dreary and solemn instrumental played with a cello, and the following track, "Time As Abjection" is a powerful and vicious display of emotion. With productioni by Matt Bayles, a man who's also produced the likes of Mastodon, From Ashes Rise, Isis, Soundgarden, and Burnt By The Sun, I can't find a single complaint about Chronoclast's sound.
While not breaking any new ground, necessarily, Buried Inside have captured their true sound. Although I can see people being turned off by this new direction, I can't see anyone being desperately unhappy, or longing for a return to form album. Chronoclast is memorable and honest. It stands on it's own without succumbing to the limitations of BI's musical breed.
