EP REVIEW: Ascend To Clarity – Bury The Traitor

Hailing from Derby, metalcore quintet BURY THE TRAITOR certainly use new EP Ascend To Clarity as their chance to put their best foot forward in terms of both poise and finesse. Mixing the likes of BURY TOMORROW with hints of VEIL OF MAYA – the Midlands boys certainly make a shout for themselves to be taken seriously by fans across the scene.

The jagged riffs and welcome pinch harmonicas on Season To Burn give BURY THE TRAITOR a base to build on. It’s rough around the edges style is soldered together by the trembling lead guitar lines of Scott Day, this isn’t reinventing the wheels of metalcore, but it is certainly telling of Day‘s obvious ear for texture. More outright furious efforts like Heads Down Thumbs Up are where the band really spread their feathers though. The frantic, CANCER BATS-like tempo hits like a kidney punch and vocalist Oli Heaton Loewenbach puts in a punchy, searing vocal performance that really sets the band alight. As expected, the ensuing breakdown is as predictable as it is punishing, but there’s nothing wrong with sticking to convention when you’re doing it right.

Where BURY THE TRAITOR struggle though is in their hunt for a seamless blend between a melodic and heavy vocal split. Ascend To Clarity is often thwarted by its relentless pursuit for a melodious nature. The main chorus on A.S.I.F has a high pitch tone which sounds a little too close to hair metal for comfort, and Lion Vs Wolf certainly looks in the right areas for a seismic hook, but never manages to get near finding one. It’s frustrating too, because for so long throughout the EP BURY THE TRAITOR look like they could be real players in metalcore, before having their wind taken from them.

Ascend To Clarity is a perfectly sufficient metalcore EP which offers your common listener plenty of flesh to sink their teeth into. While the songwriting gets away from BURY THE TRAITOR from time to time, there’s nothing here that will turn you against the band. If the Derbyshire boys went into this EP hoping to come out of it with something to build on, they can consider this a job well done.

Rating: 6/10

Ascend To Clarity is out now via self-release. 

Like BURY THE TRAITOR on Facebook.