Burnt By The Sun

Listening to this album, it seems like Burnt by the Sun don't even need to put any effort into their seamless subgenre traversing; they're so talented, they probably write this shit in their sleep. And this sophomore release is, amazingly, even better than their incredible debut. Although the sounds haven't changed a whole lot, there's a bit more in the way of ebbs and flows here, both sonically and emotionally, which is commendable and makes for a more rewarding listen. As always, Dave Witte's drumming is flawlessly smooth, never missing a beat while the band jumps from hardcore grooves to extreme metal speed. The lyrics are thoughtful and rooted in social and political issues, which combined with the sincerity of the delivery and the attention to writing memorable songs that maintain their intensity, makes this one incredible album. How do you follow up such a powerful debut album? Michael Olender: We're not really interested in continuing the tradition of full-on blasts like we did on our previous releases. Instead we decided to focus on the song structures and flow and use speed or heaviness when it was needed. How do you feel you've changed as a band? The Soundtrack album really wasn't us anymore, not only in the sense that we lost a guitar player, but also our individual lives have changed the need for that full-on heavy and fast music. While we obviously still love playing that, we wanted to write a new kind of record that represented where we are. Our new record is a change for us in terms of variety and pace.