Customer Reviews

Origo

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Burst are an experimental/avant garde/post hardcore band who have received quite a few glowing reviews. After listening to "Origo" for the first time, the listener might wonder why Burst are so widely acclaimed, but this album is a creeper--it slowly creeps under your skin with each listen. When you have completely absorbed these songs, you should realize that they are quite unique, complex, interesting, sophisticated, powerful, innovative, and almost amazing.

The majority of this album is quite heavy, but "Origo" really starts to shine when it gets melodic. The first handful of songs, the churning "Where The Wave Broke," the surging "Sever," and "Immateria," do their best to get the listener's blood pumping, with chunky riffs and throat-straining/shredding yells. The fourth track, "Slave Emotion," continues in this vein, and is backed by thumping snare drums, and stomping, Mastodon-esque (almost buzzsaw) power chords.

Song numbers five and six, "Flight's End" and "Homebound," are the first partially melodic tunes on here. "Homebound" begins melodically, with a dreamy, mesmerizing string arrangement. Next, "It Comes Into View," which features a gorgeous, dwindling string arrangement, strummed acoustic guitars, and a sluggish drum beat, is doubtlessly the prettiest song on here.

Lastly, the remaining two tracks are "Stormwielder" and "Mercy Liberation." These two songs return this album to its heavier, doomy, lumbering, riff-based roots.

So, Burst definitely deserve all of the merited, positive reviews. But I cannot stress this enough: "Origo" will most likely take time to grow on you. It isn't instantly gratifying or accessible, but every time you listen to this album, you'll discover something new, and thus enjoy "Origo" a little more.

BURST - Origo

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Picture taking the powerful assault of: Through Silver and Blood-era, Neurosis. Blending it with Refused's Shape of Punk to Come, song writing ability. Adding touches of Snapcase like Hardcore drumming and almost Mastodon-Esc guitar parts and you have what would ideally be one of the freshest, most original Metal / Hardcore creations in a long time.... Luckily Burst is able to pull off this amalgamation of styles and have even added beautiful, ambient atmospheric passages. For example the acoustic part in: "It Comes Into View" is almost reminiscent of the works of their current touring mates, Opeth. Even the last track "Mercy Liberation" has parts that would not sound out of place on a Queens of the Stone Age CD.

Their added vocal diversity actually compliments this album and may even showcase its aggression better than Prey on Life.

ORIGO would have climbed into my Top 5 of 2005 list had it been released in North America this year. The European Release date was Oct/Nov 2005. So technically this will begin as the best official album of 06 in my eyes!!!

Favorite Songs: Sever, Slave Emotion, and Stormwielder.

5 - Stars

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I was furious when upon realizing that the release was delayed for North America. But it was certainly worth the wait. Burst has done it again, creatinga beautiful texture that breaks bones. I'm surprised that they retained the "sound" of their previous releases. This sounds like a Burst record without being repetative of their previous releases.

I think people who enjoy Mastodon, Pelican, etc. will VERY MUCH like this release.

Burst is astonishingly good.

I kick myself for not hearing this band sooner. Another awesome Swedish band too, is it something about their stupidly high taxes that makes people wanna make some kcik-azz tunes? I forget what motivated me to buy this, but thank goodness I did. Because PURE AWESOME is how I would describe Burst's _Origo_. For lack of descriptive ability, it is often helpful to appeal to comparison. Here it is a struggle, but not too long ago I realized that one may get an evocative idea of them by taking Isis or Cult of Luna as an abstract starting point -- the glacial flow and development, the chapter or movement like approach to its soft-heavy-soft-heavy-etc dynamic structure, the method of riff and texture, the dry powerful voice of the singer. From here one derives Burst by take a similar approach to textured guitars, bass, and effects, staying closer to standard song form (y'know like verses and choruses and stuff), writer shorter cuts that change more often. The music is super heavy like Isis, but not really because of the guitar distortion. Well yes partly because of that, but more because of the overall texture and production. You'll hear this right away when "Where the Wave Broke" begins with its simple, unaccompanied riff - wonderfully distorted but not really heavy itself until the other instruments enter with a mighty blow. Burst's music spirals through standard harmonies but without the gravity of traditional method, kind of like what Fripp did scrupulously with King Crimson in the 80s. the other bands tends to follow a more conventional approach to harmony. The vocals are very tastefully split with some fairly prominent clean, processed vocals alongside the extreme vox. this is not obvious at first simply because the main vocalist's presence is so strong. He sounds like a more organic, emotionalized Jens Kidman (Meshuggah), and that's wicked. Burst's best attribute is their emotional intensity and creativity. The instrumental "It Comes Into View", like the electro-acoustic folk rock of a nuclear fallout aftermath, shows masterful creation of atmosphere, and such subtler strengths are more apparent here. However you will discover the same attributes in the songs themselves, whether through an impassioned verse or a killer instrumental interlude, at all levels of dynamics. "the immateria", "sever", and "homebound" are dramatic mini-epics in their own way without even being very long. "Slave Emotion" and "Stormwielder" merge a basically hardcore aesthetic with a prog-like finesse, unpredictability, and textural wall-of-sound density. The excellent closer "Mercy Liberation" is just stupidly good, its beautifully melodic layers heavily built up until in a stunning moment it restores the melody of the opening theme with a massively dense, heavy arrangement. You can't even breathe through it. the lyrics are cool as well. Despite a few similarities to the other bands I mentioned above, Burst's great merits set them apart. seriously.

This is a fantastic album. If you are into death, tech/mathcore, prog or pretty much any other type of extreme music, you need to pick this up. All the instumentation is breath taking and quite satisfying. The one area Burst start to lose me on is the vocals, which come across as completely inappropriate at times. When I'm hearing the kind of melodic, grooving and intricate riffs that this band plays, I really don't expect or want to hear somebody growling over it in an impotent attempt at Meshuggah worship. Those vocals work for some bands, but not for Burst; not all the time, anyway. They have crossed into such panoramic territory, that they should not be held back by the limited scope of so much full on screaming. If this band can learn to infuse even just a slightly more melodic approach to their lead vocals, the world at large will soon be singing praises for Burst.

Swedish metal band Burst have been getting some strong reviews from important sources, as a formerly extreme band who are moving into greater complexity and maturity with this album. They're developing strong chops and mature ideas, and that makes this album very listenable and compelling in itself, but there is a certain shortage of personality and uniqueness. As musicians and songwriters, Burst certainly have serious skills. The guitarists and bassist are not afraid to change moods, and explore moodier passages and exotic instrumental breaks. Drummer Patrik Multin is especially impressive in his array of intricate beats, with a full range from aggressive metal jackboot rhythms to slow and sneaky grooves. Meanwhile, singer Linus Jagerskog may seem like a typical nu-metal groaner/screamer at first, but upon repeated listens he reveals some emotion and pathos to match the band's dark lyrics and inventive musical workouts. Those who are familiar with the Deftones may be reminded of a more mature version of singer Chino Moreno, though that's for comparison purposes only.

The progressive metal approach of Burst is best heard in tracks like "The Immateria," "Flight's End," and "Stormwielder." These compelling songs display some very intricate songwriting, especially with the shifting moods and complex dynamics of which most extreme bands are completely incapable. This makes Burst plenty impressive already, but they still have some work ahead of them, in order to become truly memorable over the long term. They've taken their progressive tendencies too far in a few places, especially in the long atmospheric instrumental "It Comes Into View," which was probably meant to establish a mood in the middle of the album and break the heavy tension. But unfortunately that track drifts into a cloudy haze, as do some codas in other songs. And overall, while Burst are progressing very impressively, most of what they're doing is exactly what you'd expect from a "progressive" metal band. They're bursting with emerging skills and maturity, but they haven't yet injected their own personality into those impressive chops. [~doomsdayer520~]

Rarely is a band spacey, experimental, and aggressive all at the same times. Even the best progressive bands dole these moments out in bits and pieces, never really mixing them up - having sections devoted to either a haunting melody or a crushing riff. Burst is one of those rare examples where delicacy and muscle coexist in a roiling and explosive mixture that is as much at odds as well as harmoniously intertwined. And Origo is a perfect example of their complete mastery of this execution.

Opener `Where The Wave Broke' (a tribute to former Nasum frontman Miesko Talarczyk) combines passion, beauty, and a razor-sharp bite in an aural onslaught unlike any other - and this is quite possibly the album's most straight-forward affair. Throughout Origo Burst weave transcendent musicianship and subtle melodies into muscular rhythms and powerful riffs giving the album beauty and bellicosity all at once. It is complex and organic, much like a living, breathing creature.

On `The Immateria,' this is illustrated perfectly as dense, heavy drums provide the foundation to whispy, airy guitars that become ever increasingly violent and torrential. Here the bass provides the main melody in soft, subtle shades while frontman Linus Jägerskog bellows ferociously. It's clear their hardcore roots shine often amidst all the soundscapes, punctuating each peak like a punch to the face. Despite what the term "experimental" might mean to you, Burst and Origo are not meant for the weak. This is music at its most raw, cutting away all the fat with the precision of a scalpel, but mangling and chewing through it all like a chainsaw.

Origo is beauty and ugliness, courage and fear in musical form. A masterpiece in every sense of the word.

I don't know what the hell Origo is all about (maybe one of those made-up album words that usually end up on the cover of a Tool record). I don't know why they chose such a boring name for their band. But those of you who are into this type of music rarely buy albums because of a snappy name, or a cool picture on the cover (by the way, what's up with the half-naked guy on this one?). Anyway, let me tell you: Burst will impress you. These guys can compose a song. They rock. They put thought into their music. They've been doing it for a while now (Conquest: Writhe, and Prey on Life are also excellent choices, with emphasis on the latter).

I know bands hate categorization or comparisons, but if you've never heard Burst's music, you need to know what you're getting into. Here's the best I can do: the melody and expansiveness of Opeth...the brutality of Burnt By the Sun...the introspection of Tool...the hardcore angst of Agnostic Front...the precision of Nile (remember, we're talking precision)...and throw in half the vocal versatility of KSE's old singer Jesse (the best metalcore ever saw)...

Enough said? Burst is part of a larger metalcore movement (one that is mostly blossoming, and in some ways, being perverted, in the US), but because this band comes from Europe, it brings a fresh perspective. Origo. Buy it. Whatever the hell it means.

2 1/2

Not without attempts to invigorate hardcore with more melodic assaults and occasional off-genre experimentation, Origo still ends up sounding more or less like so much of the same by almost always reaching back into the base of generic riffs, fragmenting whatever creative momentum they have going into smaller, less significant bursts.

Not a MAIDEN-esque metal outfit rather a heavy on the melodies D-beat hardcore band with some post-rock soundscapes. Beautiful at times with floating guitar notes then monolithic shredding jackhammer drumming. Slight appearance of clean vocals but aren't too horrible. There is some great ebb and flow to the songs. I will be checking out their back catalogue.