Alt/Metalcore
Blood Blast Distribution/Believe Digital
Release Date – March 16th 2023
Line Up:
Roni Mac Ruairi – Vocals/Guitar
Steve ‘Jelly’ Martin – Guitar/Vocals
Ger Murphy – Bass/Vocals
Jason Christy – Drums
Tracklist:
1 – Dens Of Lions
2 – Sunshine
3 – Playgod
4 – Sirens
5 – The Cavalry Ain’t Coming
6 – You’re On Your Own
7 – Fire At Will
8 – To Night
9 – Thicker Skin
10 – Michael
Words That Burn are an up-and-coming alt/metalcore act from Dundalk, Ireland, and are not to be confused with the crust/punk mob from Wisconsin. This is their third album – having not heard the others I cannot comment but what I heard on this release was impressive.
‘Den Of Lions’ gets straight into it with a ground-and-pound heavy riff over some melodic electro synths. The breakdown comes on like latter-day U2 to my ears (I could be very wrong) and they jump from melodic rock to full-on metalcore. ‘Sunshine’ is jagged and aggressive before ‘Play God’ gets darkly melodic, and the aggression is continued. A bouncy bass groove courtesy of Ger Murphy starts ‘Sirens’ which crashes headlong into an angsty, emotive alt-rocker and that is continued by ‘The Cavalry Ain’t Coming’ only with a shed load of electro. ‘You’re On Your Own’ is a big slice of modern pop-metal then ‘Fire At Will’ is almost a techno dance ballad. ‘To Night’ starts with some bright synths over a huge alt-metal grind before the darkly melodic ‘Thicker Skin’ which crushes you with a dual vocal that goes from alt to metalcore. The final track ‘Michael’ is a huge, nasty, and aggressive finale.
I will admit that I didn’t think much of this in the first couple of plays, but it has grown on me. I’m not a big fan of the metalcore genre but this has a lot more going for it than just a load of gruff shouty vocals etc. They jump from metalcore to alt-metal to electronic stuff and all sorts in between there are some great catchy melodies too. Maybe this is for the younger generation but I’m sure us old farts might like it too – you’ve just to give it a chance.
Score: 7/10
Reviewed by: Smudge
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