Buried Inside – Chronoclast

A doomy intro closely heir to the obscurest epiphanies of bands such as ARCANE SUN or MOURNING BELOVETH immediately alerted me to a potentially interesting, predominantly Doom metal band.

I was partly mistaken. BURIED INSIDE is not at all an exclusive manifestation of doom – in fact, heaviness abounds – always intertwined with magic and melody. That is the crux of the composition: melodic passages. Chronoclast is a day-dream (or perhaps nightmare) thesis concerning master Chronos (Time). The songs are sequential episodes of the Saga and lyrics have deeper meanings that should be properly interpreted.

Time transfigures into metaphysical fields best known to the mortal world as: Time as Methodology, Surrogate Religion, Imperialism, Abjection, Automation, Commodity and Resistance. The conceptual image of the album alone suffices to make me a fan. It is almost as if Chronoclast could be viewed as one song, divided into ten complementary sections. This is the view of a Canadian combo comprised of Nicholas Shaw (vocals), Andrew Tweedy (guitars, vocals), Matias Palacios-Hardy (guitar), Stephen A. Martin (bass) and Michael B. Godbout (drums).

Relapse recommends: File under Metalcore. I am openly not a die-hard fan of the genre, but in this case the exception is more instinctive than even thought about, for BURIED INSIDE will most likely please fans of NEUROSIS, ISIS, CULT OF LUNA. And even those who do not have a clue which bands I am talking about. The producer was surprisingly (or maybe not…) the same producer who has worked with MASTODON, ISIS or NEUROSIS in the past: Matt Bayles. The problem with the sound is that, intentionally or not, the vocals come out a bit too low in the mix.

I am positively in love with this album, for a number of reasons: first album that actually made me look at the metalcore scene differently (although I still think metalcore is not an exact way to define the band’s sound); the songs are fairly original and despairing, not easily listenable at all times; complex, progressive touches every now and then – a concept (and I like concepts!) that is not usual and…. A definite candidate for Best album of 2005. It ends just as it began.

Myspace Buriedinside

Cover Buried Inside – Chronoclast Front

Buried Inside – Time as Surrogate Religion