Year: 2019
Total Time: 39:59
Label: Sumerian Records

This quartet from the US, and more specifically Minneapolis, named AFTER THE BURIAL, have been well established over the last fifteen years in the field of extreme progressive metal. Their sound, of course, is not that easy to describe. Their music has also strong influences from MESHUGGAH, as the Djent genre expresses them well enough too.

   This is their sixth recording effort, and once again they continue in the same technical style they are known for all the years. They are trying to introduce some new elements to their music, but basically they are the old, good AFTER THE BURIAL we know. “Evergreen” is very technical, with heavy bass being a “key pillar” of their groovy music. Throughout, the disc makes you shake your head rhythmically. On guitars, the well-known harmonies and the guitar shredding is here. Dan Carle on the drums is a real metronome, and Notarmaso’s vocals are as aggressive as it gets and you can feel the real rage they bring out. The production is just fine, a tad dirty as well, which seems to have been done on purpose. It’s not often that we want more from a metal production of during 2019, but in this case, we’d surely would.

   The songs are mostly very good and some even try to introduce new elements, new melodies. At the beginning of “Behold The Crown”, with the “siren like” guitars and all the harmonics, we hear one of the most beautiful riffs of 2019. A riff that perfectly characterizes AFTER THE BURIAL. Then it becomes very aggressive, with a beautiful melodic pass and it also contains a fine solo. “In Flux” is one of the songs that is trying to give something more to the listener. Six minutes, with the vocals being extra aggressive, and the riffs more than groovy. Beyond that, this genre is hard not to wear someone of on a whole album, and those of us who are fans, knows this well enough. Unfortunately, this is not avoided here, featuring tracks like “Respire”, which is your mediocre typical metalcore track and nothing more.

   Overall, “Evergreen is an album that will make you headbang a lot, it is aggressive, contains two great tracks, but the production could be better and in the end it’s not the album that will be the album of the year, as it also contains some fillers. Lovers of the genre should check this out though for sure!

Βαθμολογία: 6.5/10
George Kourou
Related Link: AFTER THE BURIAL – Facebook Page