Album: Five
Producer: Dan Weller
Studio: Vale studios, Worcestershire
Expect: More riff-heavy, full-throated metalcore with skyscraper choruses, but this time with Hollywood production values.
It’s been a slow yet steady climb for Bury Tomorrow over the course of this decade; from very nearly splitting up, to making the entire UK scene stand up and take notice on 2012’s The Union Of Crowns, to playing their biggest-ever headline slots and damn-near ripping everyone’s faces off with 2016’s Earthbound, they have continued to plough forward with growing momentum. Now, with their fifth album in the bag, 2018 promises to be a very big year for this Southampton quintet, as their hulking metalcore anthems have put them in touching distance of becoming a serious proposition in our world. We spoke to vocalist Dani Winter-Bates to find out if we’re on the verge of hearing the album that sends Bury Tomorrow over the top.
So, Dani, how are you feeling about the new album?
“I hate it when bands go all gooey over their new album and spout out all of the ‘It’s the best thing we’ve ever done, it’s so heavy!’, but it’s really hard not to be excited when you’re so happy with the outcome of these songs. I think we’ve done what we always do, but we’ve stretched the boundaries of it out a little bit.”
With bands like Parkway Drive and While She Sleeps redefining what a metalcore band can do, has that inspired any stylistic changes in Bury Tomorrow?
“I mean, we are always going to be what we are; we’re a melodic modern metal band, and we’re not going to change that too much. But, I think you’re right in mentioning those bands and the way they’ve changed our scene. Parkway Drive now have this massive, epic sound, and then you’ve got these technical wizards like Architects, so there has been a big growth in the scene over the last few years. Our own development is in our production, I think. We have really gone out of our way to make this album sound cleaner and bigger. I have always had a bit of a problem with our production on certain records, so we really wanted to address that.”
People might hear that and think that Bury Tomorrow are going to go more pop… surely not?
“Oh no! Listen, we know we aren’t the most extreme band around, but we’re a metal band and we are never going to be Radio 1 darlings. This album is still heavy, because, for a start, I’m in the band! I’m not a singer, and I don’t see the point of trying to do something that other people have done to a much higher standard. We’re doing what we always do, and that’s paying homage to bands like Killswitch and At The Gates while updating it with something a bit more modern.”
And, presumably, after the success you’ve had on festival bills, headline and support slot tours, this could be the record that really cements Bury Tomorrow as a big name.
“That would be amazing. We’ve always just been fans of music, so it’s weird to be in a band where all of us have such similar influences, and it’s been a long road for us. We have always been the underdog, you know? We aren’t the coolest band around, no one looks at us like we’re the hot new thing or these style icons. We’re just dudes who love heavy metal, so if we can become synonymous with the biggest bands in our scene then it would be extremely satisfying.”
As a band who really think about your live show, are you looking to build on those for the next album cycle?
“Yeah, exactly: we don’t take ourselves very seriously, so we always try and make the shows fun and think about how we can make them that in a different way. We’ve know now that if we go out and headline we do want to have some production. I’d love pyro, fire and rotating stages, but we look at how a band like A Day To Remember first did it and that inspires us to come up with something a bit more creative.”
Black Flame is out July 13 and available to pre-order from Amazon now
