End of the Line

Today's post will take a break from the "The Problem With Music Today" series.

Today I will present you with the final albums released by two bands who truly defined their respective genres.


Burnt By The Sun - Heart of Darkness (2009)



With the release of "Heart of Darkness", metalcore pioneers Burnt By The Sun are officially done. The band declared break up after 2003's "The Perfect is The Enemy of the Good" but a few years later we would hear rumblings from the BBTS camp saying they had one more release up their sleeve for all of us. They would go on to release a split 7" with Relapse label mates Carbomb that featured one new track. We would have to wait another 2 years until the band released Heart of Darkness.

I'll take the time now to mention how important this band was to the rising metalcore scene that has since been totally raped, disfigured, and exploited. Band's like Burnt By The Sun set the marker for what it truly meant to be 'metalcore'. The long defunct, and equally important Human Remains would be the pre-cursor to Burnt By The Sun. BBTS would take what Human Remains did and make things a bit more seamless while being equally aggressive.

Very few bands of the heavy persuasion can claim their own sound. I would say the ability to do so is even less now. In this way is Burnt By The Sun important and even more important is Heart of Darkness as a lesson to all these fake assholes walking about. We are in the middle of a crisis with heavy music. Few exciting acts still remain which leaves little to look forward to. Soon everyone will be going back instead of looking ahead to what could be. There's nothing wrong with going back to those releases we hold near and dear but if there's nothing unique or at least inspiring to look forward to, then heavy music in trouble (more so than it already is).

The song writing on Heart of Darkness is much more direct than previous releases. I wouldn't consider it stripped down because the elements of dissonance that make BBTS's riffing so memorable are still intact and the intricate thudding rhythms do their job in making sure no song is ever that simple. Mike Olender's vocals are a bit more defined but don't worry the words are still inaudible for the most part. It just wouldn't be Burnt By The Sun otherwise. Olender has admitted that the lyrics penned for this album are his own personal closure regarding the conflict inside that he has allowed us to experience.

Very few bands can say they went out with a bang and this album is proof that Burnt By The Sun will always have a place in the annals of heavy music.



Insect Warfare - Insect Warfare (2009)



Insect Warfare's self titled one sided LP would be their final offering. 53 tracks of noise, drums, vocals and noise, no guitars, no bass. The band wasn't about to do anything special for their final release, they just did what they do best and then they left us very thirsty.

This Texas grind quartet has put just about every grind band to come around in the past 10 years to absolute shame. They pulled their influences straight from the glory days of grind. Then, they took those influences and integrated them into their own version of noisy thrashy death. They are hands down one of the greatest grind acts to ever exist. Every release seemed to fluctuate in terms of production, more static, less static, buried, brightened, in any case, it was all disgusting. Often times I can't believe how devastating it all sounds. This band gives you that flesh stripped from bones feeling.

Of course like all great things, they too had to come to an end. Luckily they left us with a bunch of material which if you played it from start to finish would probably span about 20 minutes. Amazing.

This is the type of band where if a friend were to ask "Dave, you know a lot about music, a godly amount even, what bands would I listen to if I wanted to get into grind?" I could name plenty but Insect Warfare would be the first to come out of my mouth.