ALBUM REVIEW: Bury The Sky – Kill Trip
Fresh out of Denmark, sludge rockers KILL TRIP release their debut album Bury the Sky. With a promise of punk rock sentiments and a hardcore edge, contrasting to the world weariness and sombreness of the lyrics, which focus on the present destruction we live in, will KILL TRIP deliver?
A strong riff pummels through instantly on opener Eyes Of The Lake, which is a promising start. The band feels like there’s a constant idea that they’re working with and it’s caked in distinct, fuzzy vocals and a warm body of guitars that keep on with a good hook. It’s worth noting a nice little dynamic china symbol sounds that permeates unusually in the standard tone of blues and sludge.
Bones of Winter is just as punchy, the drums tapping through nicely as that distinct vocal adds a nice psychedelic edge. It’s straight forward stuff, that might get a little repetitive as it leans a little more into its hard rock and blues feel, but it’s consistent and well played. Split changes the tempo up and overall feels much looser and experimental than the previous two tracks, which is great, as the bass especially feels like it gets a lot more time to shine in the mix. This feels as if Father John Misty became a lot more aggressive, which might deter some people, but if you’re interested in the more sensibilities of the song itself, you’ll get on just fine with it.
Locust has just as much bounce and playful distortion as before, swinging from chilled out, slow head bang anthem to a ROYAL BLOOD-esque bop and a heavy, sludgey breakdown that all ties together with impressive energy and precision. Smoke Will Follow Me goes for a bit of a MASTODON feeling intro, or something with a much more classic or progressive rock melody, relentless and a little more exciting. It’s not over permissive with itself though, as harmonising guitars slide and chug away together in a tandem chord progression that’s got a lot more personality the more you listen to it. The introductory riff makes a reappearance to welcome in the much more indulgent noodles on the lead guitar, with can leave the space into the drop down to just chords a little flat. However, the crooning vocals over the stomping chorus is probably the most polished part of the song, so there’s more to love here than criticise.
New Media Disease is an overlapping argument on lies in new media, and who is telling the truth about war. At twenty-five seconds it’s more like an intro for the next song Go For Death!, and a way of signifying the middle part of the album. As for Go For Death!, it instantly solidifies itself with good beat and a very compelling structure, filling you with enough angst and charge to parallel the haunting rhythm. It’s prefect in it’s time, a short sharp hit of disillusioned fuzz and anger, disconnected chords making for a really unique sound that catches you’re ear more than any other track so far.
An Ache In My Bones is another blues ride, with flickers into some subtlety that is worth making the trip round a few times to listen. It seems often, when the vocals want to focus on the atmosphere, the riffs become laden with some small intricacies that give more texture and the whole piece works. The solo, where the guitar gets to put itself in the centre stage, is where it falters a little, not giving enough blistering energy that would counter the mounting tension that ultimately feels unresolved by the end.
The Bane of Man takes it’s time to build into a muted, snarling beast, where once again, the main riff pairs so well with the smooth vocals that you can really get on board. The drums, when they’re crashing and swelling through the symbols, are pretty good, but lose some tension when they focus more on a light and loose sounding high hat that should be much crisper and snappier, and it’s oddly noticeable. However, once again, the overall product is sprinkled with nice melodic choices and shows the potential for good musicianship, and doesn’t overdo it on the showing off front.
Finishing off, Into This Black Soil has a stripped back feel, the dual guitars not pushing so hard, but laying in wait as the vocals leisurely ebb in and out, feeling far away and lonely and the drums are at there best here, adding tension all the while. When a couple of minutes of atmosphere have elapsed, the whole collective get the chance to demonstrate one last shove to impress on this album. However, As with the rest of Bury The Sky, there are moments what are so easy to fall into and get behind, the ease of the music feels innate, while at other times, it can feel like there’s just something missing a little, that there’s a rush of inspiration that could mustered to get the song where it needs to be. It’s hard not to listen back to the first track and confuse the two, with the same pacing and ideas through the verse, and the final lead section doesn’t work at all. It’s not to say this isn’t a good track, but it’s unfortunate it doesn’t deliver the final blow this album needs.
There are nougats of something worth listening to on Bury the Sky, with some songs having a really direct and distinct sound that could make KILL TRIP a band with some staying power. The more you envelop yourself in the heavy distortion and fuzz, the bolder instances that embrace some meatier energy, the better you’ll enjoy what’s on offer. At times, it can be bold and focused and create a lot of momentum. However, there are moment’s that this album lets itself down and doesn’t deliver, resulting in the overall feel being good where it could be been great for KILL TRIP. Given the promise that’s there, it will be worth seeing what the band create in their future.
Rating: 6/10
Bury The Sky is out now via El Capitan Records.
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