DYSRIDER — Bury the Omen (review)

Album · 2015 · Melodic Death Metal

5/5 · 2015-03-08
DippoMagoo

I've listened to a lot of great symphonic power metal albums over the last few years, especially those with female vocals. One such release that stood out from the pack as one of the better releases was Resilience, the sophomore release from Swiss band Trophallaxy. I was especially impressed by the unique sounding keys, which occasionally gave the music a gothic feel, along with the use of the cello as the main symphonic instrument, which helped give the music a fresh feeling. Shortly after Resilience was released, the band went through some lineup changes, and around this time they decided to change their name to Dysrider, and to incorporate more death metal elements on their next release. That release has now arrived, in the form of Bury the Omen, and it certainly does not disappoint.

Stylistically, Bury the Omen is not as big a departure from their previous work as I was initially expecting it to be. It's certainly a heavier, more powerful album, and the guitar work is at times quite thrashy, but the core elements of their sound remain fully intact: Female vocalist Joëlle Graz still provides the bulk of the symphonic elements with her excellent cello playing, while male vocalist Jonathan Pellet still provides the ambience with his ever impressive keyboards. If anything both of these instruments are even more prominent than before. While the album can mostly be described as symphonic melodic death metal with occasional prog leanings, traces of their power metal sound are also present on many tracks, with most songs being very fast paced and containing some very epic clean vocal sections and choruses.

Perhaps the biggest change comes from the vocals. On previous releases Joëlle stood alone as the clear lead vocalist, with Jonathan providing occasional growls, while Bury the Omen features more of a 50/50 split between the two. This works very well as Joëlle has a very clear tone, a super smooth delivery, and the ability to easily switch between operatic vocals, light clean vocals and even occasionally some very nice sounding whispers, while Jonathan's growls are very deep and powerful without ever being irritating in the least. I've found myself struggling with harsh vocals lately, often dreading their appearance on any given album, but Jonathan does such a great job that I always enjoy every part where he takes the lead, just as much as I enjoy the sections where Joëlle leads.

The album begins with an excellent intro track titled "Emergence". At first all you can hear are the keys and the cello, but eventually the rest of the instruments enter in, and then the track begins to slowly build up intensity over the course of 80 seconds, before exploding into the start of "Against Your Hold", which begins with an epic drawn out scream from Jonathan, and some intense thrash riffs, before the cello slows up to calm things down just a bit. The rest of the track seamlessly alternates between symphonic power metal and melodic death metal, and serves as an excellent showcase for the band's overall sound and especially for the two vocalists, who are both given an equal amount of time to shine. Most of the album follows a similar formula, with one vocalist leading the verses and the other taking over for the chorus, and then occasionally whoever isn't leading will provide backing vocals, while musically most tracks are very fast paced and feature some awesome guitar work, to go along with the always present atmospheric keys and the wonderful sound of the cello.

Out of the more typical songs, "Against Your Hold", the title track and "The Reckoning" are my favorites, though there aren't any less than great songs on the album. Both longer tracks are awesome, with "Time of Decay" featuring an extended opening where the keys lend a very strong gothic feel, before the intensity picks up in the later parts, while the closer "Embers Reflection" also starts off a bit slow but in a much more calming way, before speeding up and turning into the kind of epic symphonic power metal track the band excels at.

After a series of rather similar tracks, the band decides to change the formula up for three songs in a row, starting with "Story of Power". This track is by far the heaviest on the album, with Jonathan taking the lead throughout the entire track, while Joëlle provides some nice harmonies during the chorus. Usually I wouldn't like this kind of switch up, but because of how good Jonathan is and because of how great all the instruments sound, I actually find it to be one of the best on the album. The following track "Blind Avengers" is a very nice power ballad and mostly features clean vocals, before the track speeds up and the growls show up during a brief but very explosive section towards the end. The last surprise is the instrumental track "Bliss in Darkness", where everyone in the band is given a chance to shine.

I was initially nervous when I heard the band was switching gears, as I absolutely loved Resilience and feared a change in sound could be a mistake, but thankfully I've been proven wrong, as Bury the Omen is a fantastic symphonic melodic death metal album, which shows the band breaking new ground, while still leaving in traces of their power metal roots. At least so far, Dysrider is every bit as awesome as Trophallaxy was, so hopefully they can release plenty more great albums in the future.

Edit: Upgraded to 5 stars. Now that I've heard it with proper headphones, this album is absolutely insane.