Bury Tomorrow – Portraits – Review

Release Date: March 16th, 2010
Record Label: Artery Records
Genre: Metalcore

United Kingdom’s Bury Tomorrow will be crossing the pond to tour with fellow metalcore band, Attack Attack! and company on the Artery Foundation’s Across the Nation Tour. The full US tour will be in support of their latest release entitled Portraits due out in the US on March 16th through Artery Recordings. Portraits, spans eleven tracks, clocking in at just under forty-five minutes.

From the start, Bury Tomorrow comes out aggressive metalcore-esque sound, which lasts for quite some time until Jason Cameron decides to turn in his growls for clean vocals. You & I showcases the clean vocals of Jason, before kicking into a more aggressive verse. The band essential blends metalcore instrumental formula’s with post hardcore clean verses screaming vocals, and a handful of breakdowns. Relief, offers the only relief from the monotony of Portraits, an acoustic track, showcasing Jason’s stellar clean vocals once again.

As I try to dig for something positive in this ‘by the numbers,’ album I am at a loss. The overall sound is enjoyable, production being very solid. The problem is that I have heard this album many times prior, so this newly packaged rendition fails to really strike a chord at holding my interest. It’s not a delightful position; Bury Tommorow has a good sound if they only took some creative risks to alter the formulaic approach that the album holds throughout. Either this release needed to drop back during the peak of metalcore’s popularity, or needs to be revamped for modern day audio consumption.

Bury Tomorrow, has a lot of promise as an up and coming band, they just need to learn from their mistakes and push forward. They have one thing down, a solid vocalist which is always a challenge to find. From here, just work on breaking up the predictable song structures, up the difficulty factor, and perhaps a few more complex breakdowns if they are to stick with their current formula. All in all it’s a pretty standard metalcore record, take it or leave it, the choice is yours. ~James Terry

Score: 2/5

Track Listing:
1. Confessions
2. Evolution Of Self
3. You & I
4. Her Bones In The Sand
5. Repair The Lining
6. Casting Shapes
7. Factory Of Embers
8. Relief
9. Anything With Teeth
10. These Woods Aren’t Safe For Us
11. Portraits