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Rating: I first encountered Burst when they opened for Opeth in Florence. To be honest, I knew absolutely nothing about this band at the time, so much so that, all excited about having gotten my autographs from Lindgren and Wiberg, I watched these guys unload their instruments from their van without even greeting them... On the other hand, that's what all the other people around there did too. And they, poor guys, unloaded their instruments in total indifference. I entered the venue, and after a while, this band started playing... what can I say... a HUGE surprise. Thanks to the splendid sound of the Flog, they made a real impression!!! So, intrigued, I bought their latest work, Origo. And what I found was a great piece of work, a child of hardcore mixed with almost prog-like acoustic interludes (I said ALMOST), with the hoarse and fierce voice of singer Linus Jägerskog contrasted in the sweeter and more intimate pieces by the clean and delicate voice of guitarist Robert Reinholdz.
Ready? Go! It kicks off right away with the seismic "Where The Wave Broke", after a brief xylophone intro, the guitar steps in with a simple yet very effective riff, followed by the powerful entrance of the other instruments. A few seconds of calm entrusted to Reinholdz and then Jägerskog's burst of anger. The music calms again, but not Jägerskog who doesn’t seem inclined to take prisoners. The alternation between his voice and Reinholdz's is, in my opinion, one of the album's best points, a moment where they truly manage to deliver their best. Another extremely positive aspect is the riffs, tense but always clean and precise. They somewhat resemble Opeth at times, with their shift between slow and angry sections... It continues with the equally excellent "Sever"... what a beautiful start!!! Clean guitars, drums ready to explode, then again Reinholdz's voice introduces us to Jägerskog’s rage. And another very fitting track, once more played on changes in tempo and atmosphere, up to the final four screams... SEEEEEEEVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!! So full of adrenaline!!! "The Immateria" follows, faster and more driven, with a fabulous chorus. But the burst of rage comes with the next fast track "Slave Emotion"; again, great riffs, and the voice that gives energy... how beautiful!!! The album manages to maintain an excellent level, with the variations of "Flight's End" and the icy riffs of "Homebound". Okay, so far we’ve kept to a good standard, but the whole thing is marred by a hint of monotony... it needs an Opeth-style twist to amaze the listener!!! And the task is perfectly accomplished by the psychedelic "It Comes into View", a slow and caressing instrumental, very pleasing, perhaps a bit derivative but enjoyable like few others. It feels like a mix between Pink Floyd (in the initial part), Opeth (in the final part), and some more modern sounds to make this mix much more interesting than a simple copy-paste. Great piece!!! Relaxed? The next track, the fastest and most driven of the album, takes care of waking you from the stupor: "Stormwielder" is another wonderful, angry, hard, bellicose track, just the way a true ignorant metalhead likes it. Just what’s needed after the calm of the previous track. The piece ends with a keyboard note and... are we already at the end? The last track of the album, "Mercy Liberation", introduced by drum rolls, acoustic guitars. The piece unfolds in a strange melody, of classical guitar, with excellent drums, to explode violently into a splendid track to close, varied and well developed.
Fine. Well done Burst... I haven't heard their other albums, but from what I've heard they have improved. With this album, they have reached an excellent quality level. Maybe in the future, they will produce some masterpiece... who knows!!! For now, let's enjoy Origo, which in itself is already a great album!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Where the Wave Broke (03:36)
(A promise to betray
A betrayal to remember)
Where the wave broke
And flushed us back
Back into the sea
Could have carried us farther
Mired only by ourselves
Horizon glowed in morning
Through vile was our resolve
Where the wave broke
And flushed us back
Back into the sea
Would have brought a haven
Sadness, that bitter failure
Night's embrace was colder
As the stars lit
One by one
Where the wave broke
And flushed us back
Back into the sea
A memory rejected
Rejection was the promise
Should have gazed beyond
Ashen clouds that covered
Saw us huddle
Fearing
That bloated bastard sunrise.
02 Sever (05:11)
Where have we gone?
I find it harder to connect
And I find it farther away from me
Where did you go?
Where have I gone?
I feel my wound is healing poorly
Scar tissue render me frozen
Bitter
Where is it now?
What have I lost?
Give me back my demon
Call me back my demon
I feel the void won't swallow me
Has it been torn from my heart
It takes us so long
Are we waiting for nothing?
Summon back my demon
Sing for me my demon
Foreboding this uprising
A vermin coronation once again
Sever
03 The Immateria (05:22)
A silver sky and I lie down
You don't provoke my anymore
These hours try
And I go down
And horror yields a door
The light outlives the setting sun
End a day to shun
My senses slip
A lie begun
From all to none
The black as painted by the moon
Colour filth from which we've hewn
Beckon hell it ends too soon
All wanting hope and ruin
The storm that rose the crushing gale
Awaken into dismal pale
My senses blank, the sleepers veil
Where and why the burning fail
A nightmare catalyst
Harness delusion
08 Stormwielder (05:03)
I wake to see
The bastard children thriving
The plight
Your burden
The scourge abiding
No matter what consequences
I have only knives for you
I will be your storm
The strike you never knew
You little man
No willful melancholy
No matter how you plead
This wind to right your folly
Crushing worlds in front of you
Gushing through the trial
I am the wind
I am the storm you'll always flee
Find you there
Where the sun smote
Storm cleansing all away
09 Mercy Liberation (05:22)
Hear now what I tell you
Men shall know of this
They shall sleep content
With certainty they'll see
And here's the secret
No hidden logic in the seasons
Dreamer's topic denouncing
All forms of reason
Every lie to a child
Every beating of a promise
Embody all the scourge
Something beautiful to throw away
Let the weight of the centuries bend you
And the light of clarity blind you
I tell you of humanity
It's come to rise unbound
Finally to Earth
Finally born
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Other reviews
By bruciaredormendo
'Origo sounds artificial, stubborn in chasing the previous cumbersome model, unable to break away from the well-trodden path.'
'Origo is nothing more than the first step in a new evolutionary process: the result lacks well-defined contours but gives hope for what will be the endpoint.'
