‘Faceless’, the latest by Australian metal heads Buried in Verona is the natural progression from previous Buried material and a visceral answer to a recent wave of criticism against them from various pools of the contemporary metal fan base. The album fills its 43 minute-long ode to destruction with gut-bursting guitar tunings, heavy tom sounds and syncopated double bass drums that lead into open melodic choruses reminiscent of late Dillinger (and that’s a good thing, even if you still haven’t come to terms with the changes in the latter).
‘Eclipse’, which follows the dark intro ‘The Breach’, sets the tone for the rest of the album without wasting a second. There’s a sense of urgency throughout Faceless that dictates the pattern in which the songs were composed. Songs tend to start directly with fast-paced riffs or screams that build up into their signature low chugging grooves. There are a few exceptions like ‘Set me on Fire’, which showcases the variety of sounds Buried can achieve by delivering a calmer track filled with synth soundscapes and cleaner lyrics. Here, Buried take their time to layer and texture the track, and the lead guitars in the background are definitely a highlight worth paying attention to. However, while this change of sound is appreciated to break from the otherwise pure anger that permeates into the album, ‘Set me on Fire’ feels less distinctively a Buried tune, and the chorus could have easily been written by more melodic bands like Deftones.
If there’s anything negative to say here is that the tension skilfully built up by complex chugging patterns sometimes feels too short, restricting amazing open china cymbal grooves in order to fit another chorus. Sadly, their choruses tend to be textured and timed similarly, lacking the difference necessary to set them apart from each other.
This is not to say that the album is set back by its melodic work. Strangely enough, the predictability of each chorus gives us a sense of recognition, making their music more accessible and open to more melodic metal tastes, and these are always broken by the always precise and impressive syncopated drumming.
The highlight tracks here are ‘Splintered’ and ‘The Faceless’, starting with fast heavy riffs, leading into unexpected slow discordant releases filled with violence. The production quality is also apparent from the start of every track, such as in their single ‘illuminate’ or ‘Graves’, where the verses bridge to a chorus packed with electro breaks that do not feel out of place or overdone. This means that those looking for a more raw sound might be at first disappointed, but will be glad to hear that Buried in Verona stay true to the metallic riff-churning soul throughout the album once the songs progress.
This is all-in-all a good album from start to end, with a clear focus on variety of sounds and textures. It is this that ultimately makes the whole feel like a modern statement and not another soulless metal album.
GONZALO CERON