Buried Realm - Embodiment Of The Divine

Buried Realm has been cranking out albums since 2017, and it is pretty impressive that it is one person doing all the work. Usually people assume most one man bands are people with guitars, keyboards, a mic, and a drum kit, but based upon Josh Dummer’s track record from earlier years it sounds like everything he does is pretty live without much help from mechanical friends. As far as the music goes, Buried Realm sounds like a mix between melo death from Soilwork and tech death from Necrophagist, so there is a lot to appreciate on “Embodiment Of The Divine”. It is heavy and loud with the speed of a roller coaster, so those looking for melo death with more of an easy going vibe in the vein of Amorphis or Dark Tranquillity as opposed to the more hard hitting ones like Children Of Bodom or Soilwork that are very guitar heavy with little room for interludes might find this act a bit too much to handle, but those who like the latter will really appreciate the talent that Dummer does.

Right off the bat one is hit with ‘The Burning Remnants’ which features deep, bellowed vocals, furious blast beats, and very virtuous guitar work. The technical side comes first but between the mix of deeper and high vocals- especially with the solos- the melo death side is a bit more prominent later in the music. This becomes more evident on tracks like ‘Master Psychosis,’ ‘The Wonder And Terror…,’ and ‘In The Shallow Light’ which features clean vocal work that sounds very similar to Soilwork and guitar work that is very much like Children of Bodom in the sense of how much they can sound like keyboards. There are some keyboards mixed in but they are more of a symphonic backdrop to enhance the guitars and drums as they thunder through. Other tracks like ‘Overlord’ and ‘Embodiment Of The Divine’ feature less melody and just plain, straightforward technical brutality that would make fans of Archspire or even Inferi proud. The guitars and drums sync up well together despite how fast they go, so the only downside is that the track sounds like it goes by far too quick. ‘Silver Tongue’ is more of a balance between melo death and tech death with a mid paced churn but tons of melody and even some electronic influence that would appeal to those who enjoy groups like Mnemic.

The album’s top track would be ‘Infinite Mutation’ which should have served as the album’s closer. Making heavy use of symphonic moments, it shies away from the Children of Bodom and Soilwork comparisons while retaining elements from those bands and going for more of a fantasy melo death touch that really embodies the album’s artwork. Blending tech death and melo death with insanely fast moments and also just very catchy electronic and guitar medleys to break things up, this is probably the best that Dummer has to offer so far in his career and showcases how much he can do as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. Some might feel after a while the album can be a little predictable but tracks like this will shake things up. The overall fantasy feel of the lyrics and album tone as a whole may be a bit less than expected, but one can appreciate the mix of technical and melody with tons of death metal injected in keep them interested all the way through. “Embodiment Of The Divine” is certainly worth a listen for those who like guitar heavy music with keyboard/ electronic bits sprinkled in and a varied vocal approach.

4.5 / 5 STARS 

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1. The Burning Remnants
2. Overlord
3. Master Psychosis
4. Scales Of Queen Dragon
5. Silver Tongue
6. In The Shallow Light
7. Embodiment Of The Divine
8. Infinite Mutation
9. The Wonder And Terror Of Fortune


Self released
Band: https://www.facebook.com/buriedrealm
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Jul 27, 2020
Next review: Bull Elephant - Created From Death

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