Soundtrack to the Personal Revolution

New Jersey’s Burnt By the Sun is obviously keen on standing out from its peers. Members of the East Coast’s terminally overcrowded post-hardcore extreme metal scene, a warped sense of humor is their most distinctive trait. Indeed, one need merely look at song titles like “Dracula With Glasses,” “Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom,” and the quite excellent “Boston Tea-Bag Party” to arrive at this conclusion. But comedy has always been a dangerous element to mess with in the realm of heavy metal — a genre notorious for taking itself way too seriously (just ask Anthrax). So the members of Burnt By the Sun are wise to back up their lyrical shenanigans with a very diverse and compelling aural onslaught, filled with surprising twists and turns and heavy-light dynamics. There’s also very little fat to chew on, as they fling themselves headlong through each song, usually saying their piece in under three minutes. This is a promising start and a band to watch. – Eduardo Rivadavia