Minnesota’s groove titans AFTER THE BURIAL strike back with their latest LP “Dig Deep” following the suicide of guitarist and founding member Justin Lowe in the summer of 2015. With limited time to recollect themselves and emerging as a quartet instead of a quintet, they managed to pull off a decent 9-track album, which pleasantly treats ears of fans from both latter and older stuff.
Percussionist Dan Carle brings the ruckus once “Collapse” kicks in, snaps the neck and keep driving the whole album in the fast lane through “Mire” until “The Endless March” with bassist Lee Foral’s bold grooves coating every pattern Carle plays. Equally, the relentless riff blitzkrieg waged on “Lost in the Static”, “Deluge” and catchy “Laurentian Ghosts” keeps Carle in pace with guitarist Trent Hafdahl. Hafdahl delivers a sharp, carefully crafted, djent-isque atmosphere that listeners definitely crave, dominating with a harsh, hefty mid-range sound that pushes hard during breakdowns on “Catacombs” and my second favorite track following “Mire”, “Heavy Lies the Ground”. “Sway of the Break” which beautifully brings an end to this hell of a release, culminates the band’s will to bridge the gap between their previous 2013’s effort “Wolves Within” and 2008’s “Rareform” trademark opus. Anthony Notarmaso’s voice knocks everything out of the park with low growls and piercing screams that could wake the dead throughout album’s course. Last but not least, Will Putney’s touch gave also an impeccable crisp layering of all the instruments in the mix.
All in all, it’s more than obvious that the band dug deep with this one and while making their fallen brother proud, they stepped in with a release that that chugs, shreds and grooves more vulgarly than ever. I could easily label it as one of the best releases 2016 brought in.
[page_title text=”FEATURED SONG”]