Burn Still
Let The Skies Turn Black
6.1
A short and sweet EP, Let The Skies Turn Black is standard metalcore, but not without a few worthwhile qualities. Burn Still is yet another band content to combine melodic, Swedish guitar riffs with lumbering breakdowns and alternating growled/screamed vocals, yet it’s delivered solidly and has just enough bite in the songwriting department to maintain interest. It should be noted that Burn Still lean more heavily on the melodic death angle than the core part of their formula, and also go for a slower, heavier take on the genre than many of their contemporaries. It was in this respect that Heaven Shall Burn appealed to me years ago, so fans of said band may find something that agrees with them on Let The Skies Turn Black.
The first two tracks – “Black Wings” and “Day Of Darkness” – are the most generic here, with everything from the riffs to the breakdowns sounding very familiar, yet the vocals are admittedly quite strong. The final minute of “…Darkness” features a nicely worked death metal slowdown, giving it an added boost of heaviness. “My Sweet Destiny” sees the drumming loosen up more, with a welcome injection of speed, double-kicking and mid-paced grooves. The only real disappointment comes with the last track, “Reflection”, which tries its hardest to be one of those candy-coated interludes Killswitch Engage specialize in, but has neither the musical finesse nor production to pull it off convincingly. A proper song would have been more worthwhile considering the short length of this release.
If there’s one thing Burn Still have going for them with Let The Skies Turn Black, it’s the fact that it’s brief. The band’s generic metalcore would be far less tolerable over a full-length album, yet works surprisingly well on an EP. There is nothing new here whatsoever but it’s well played, well produced and decently written. Recommended to fans of Heaven Shall Burn or I Killed The Prom Queen.
