When Hide, the debut full-length album from Finnish metal outfit Burweed, first gets going, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s just some run of the mill metal act following exactly the same format as every other band in the genre, as the opening track Swallow doesn’t immediately grab you as being anything unique or different. It’s good; nice and chunky with some great meaty vocals, but it just doesn’t have that special sparkle – but then everything changes with a bit of an electronic section slap-bang in the middle of the track. It certainly takes you by surprise, and that’s when you know that this won’t just be your average album – it shows that Burweed isn’t afraid of a little experimentation and that’s certainly not a bad thing.
Indeed, Hide progresses well from there and following track Lye features some stunning clean vocals in addition to the powerful aggressiveness of the harsh vocals and up next is Lie, which is also the track used as the ‘representative’ for the album since Burweed recently released a video for it. It’s clear why this track has been chosen as the lead single from the album because it’s a very impressive piece. Something that really works well about the track is the harsh vocals atop of the more gentle instrumentation, as well as the juxtaposition of the softer sections against the heavier ones. This is a track that just flows well from start to finish.
Dilate is a little more of a difficult track at first; it takes a while to get going due to the somewhat repetitive introduction that just seems to go on and on, but the sheer brutality that hits you once the track gets going is something to behold, so it isn’t all bad, even if the track does go full circle and dips a little at the end. Following track Tire Iron is largely of the same format, yet the introduction is just so atmospheric in comparison and sets the track up rather well before it properly gets underway. It’s more of a doomy/sludgy song than the others and is a quietly brilliant number that you’ll keep wanting to return to.
Hide closes with Hide / Defend, an adventurous song that rounds up the album rather well by taking in elements of all the other songs on the album, from the softer tones right up to the hard-hitting heaviness. It truly helps the album to end on a triumphant note and all in all, more than highlights the fact that Hide is an album not to be missed. Great stuff.
8.5/10
