The Pitch: Josh Drummer provudes all instruments and vocals on Buried Realm's debut, The Ichor Carcinoma with the help of guests from the likes of Septicflesh, The Black Dahlia Murder, Cannabis Corpse, Arch Enemy, Soilwork, and more.
What I Like: Josh is a huge talent, and he's not ashamed to put that fact on display. A more than capable drummer, as his last name would suggest; his primary talents lie in his guitarwork. Solos for days. Right off the bat he rips us a new one with shredding worthy of Children of Bodom on the title track, and "On Serpents Soil" is just one long excuse to explore his virtuosity. The mixture of melodeath and tech death riffs in between are often quite catchy and demand a certain amount of headbanging from the listener. Drummer also plays with a variety of vocal styles from a more Gothenburg style, to brutal growls, and also some clean singing.
Critiques: I'm all for tasteful cleans in my melodeath a la Soilwork, Dark Tranquillity, etc, but they need some work here. Josh's voice is fine enough, reminding me a bit of Killswitch Engage especialliy when considering the riffs around them, but the production is a bit flat, causing the delivery to suffer overall. In fact, I would say the production and guitar tone are the most frequent issue detracting from the album as a whole.
The Verdict: The Ichor Carcinoma is by no means a perfect album, but for someone orchestrating and performing all of the material on his own for a first time full length, these are some incredible results. I am positive that with a little more professional support in the studio and natural learning from experience, Buried Realm will return even stronger for a sophomore effort.
Flight's Fav's: The Ichor Carcinoma, Through These Darkened Halls, Through These Darkened Halls
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