BURWEED – Hide
- Posted on 21-04-2015
Scandinavia appears to have a lock onto the multi-faceted approach to heavy music. Hailing from Finland, Burweed unleashed a debut album "Hide" of post-metal that incorporates a lot of grit, sludge, and doom to assault your ears from a wide lens. The trio lock onto certain grooves and choose to add texture and ambiance in the transitions which can be cleaner and a little more atmospheric- while the vocals are very gruff and possess more of a death growl nature.
It’s very important to allow the bass to fill the sonic landscape in this style as almost a gateway between the slower drum tempos and the electric guitar heaviness – and bassist/vocalist Eetu Lehtinen does his job very well. Check out his restraint and tact for the 8 minute plus "Dilate", as well as the thick southern doom swagger for opener "Swallow"- and his use of flange effects during the latter part of said track. Guitarist/ vocalist Toni Raukola also has a major role in terms of striking the balance between heaviness and melody – using both aspects brilliantly in one of my favorite tracks "Lye" that gives off a Tool meets Neurosis vibe.
The production values make me feel that this is fairly close to the burly tone one would expect hearing this material live – just at louder volumes. 6 songs would normally put this in the EP category, but the longer arrangements and overall 41 minute playing time allows you enough substance to absorb as a full-length without feeling tired or overwhelmed. Post-metal and doom fanatics will dig this, but understand the vocals definitely keep Burweed at a down to earth, underground oriented status- intertwining the clean melodies with savage growls from the grave.
In the end, "Hide" is a smartly constructed post-metal effort that grabs your ears through hooks and sludgy grooves to not let go.