A SOMEWHAT OVERDUE REVIEW OF AFTER THE BURIAL’S IN DREAMS

Longtime reader Brian Bode pointed out that we haven’t yet opined about After the Burial’s new album In Dreams, a complaint that a number of readers have also expressed. Brian was even so kind as to take matters into his own hands by starting to write a post for us:

IN DREAMS AND OUT OF A NIGHTMARE

We certainly have been waiting a while to speak of After The Burial’s new release on Sumerian, titled In Dreams. After predicting ATB to be one of the 10 Bands to Fuck Your Face Off in 2010 [and] premiering their song ‘Bread Crumbs & White Stones’, we finally had a chance to give this album a few listens.  What do we think of the album? Find out after the jump…

One of the pioneers of Sumeriancore blah blah blah Rareform blah blah new vocalist blah blah shitty over-produced posicore lyrics blah blah complete absence of Aspirations-like song structure blah blah sounds like they just kept adding layers of sound blah blah WTF IS WITH ALL THE WEIRD SINGING/YELLING .. can I get a death growl up in this bitch..? Please?

While I don’t necessarily share the sentiments Brian expressed in the hilarious second paragraph, I think I have to agree that this album didn’t quite live up to expectations. It’s not bad… it just isn’t grabbing me. Rareform had awesome songs, and that’s what really stuck out about that album and, in my opinion, elevated After the Burial to the forefront of the burgeoning Sumeriancore scene. In Dreams just doesn’t have the songs; the technicality is there, the grooves are there, and the band even seems to have expanded their horizons a bit with experimental tracks like “Bread Cumbs;” but this album just doesn’t have the songs, man. I’ve listened to it four times through already and I couldn’t hum a single line back to you.

So there you have it, Brian; my thoughts on In Dreams. Is it gratifying to have your opinion somewhat validated by a professional bullshit artist blogger?

-VN

(two and a half out of five horns)