AFTER THE BURIAL - Dig Deep

March 8, 2016, 8 years ago

(Sumerian)

David Perri

Rating: 8.0

review heavy metal after the burial

AFTER THE BURIAL - Dig Deep

To say that After The Burial did not have an easy 2015 is an understatement, and Dig Deep - the Minnesota group's fifth full-length - is a reflection of 2015's malignancy, from the record's title to its despondent tone. June, 2015 saw After The Burial guitar player and founding member Justin Lowe leave the band via a long, conspiracy-filled Facebook message ("Our dear friend, our brother ... has fallen into a very broken state of mind," the band responded online at the time. "Justin is ill ... and needs support and love from everyone," they told fans) and less than a month later Lowe was found dead beneath a bridge in Wisconsin. According to authorities, his death was consistent with a fall. He was 32 years old.

Dig Deep, then, is a record mired in a vastly sad situation, one that involved the loss of life at far too young of an age and, like Back In Black, ...And Justice For All, Katorz and Grey Skies & Electric Light before it, it's impossible to divorce death from Dig Deep's existence. Indeed, After The Burial was understandably so distraught after Lowe's death that the band considered not continuing. The group persevered though, and Dig Deep is the result of After The Burial's grief and sense of loss.  

Like the band's previous records, Dig Deep's foundations are entirely in Meshuggah riffs. And while some groups will use the Meshuggah influence and refuse to expand past those borders, After The Burial has always been unique, intriguingly inventive and listenable, which continues here. What differentiates Dig Deep from the rest of the band's catalogue is its intensity: while previous albums have been fierce in their own right, Dig Deep at some moments takes it a step beyond, with "Heavy Lies The Ground"'s mid-section among the most aggressive ground the band has tread on. "Collapse", "Mire" and "The Endless" are also wide-eyed in their ability to convey After The Burial's unique sound and strengths, all the while not being trapped in vessels of same-ness. In its totality, Dig Deep is an effective tribute to Lowe's lasting legacy, from those who knew him best. It's an acknowledgement of not only the unique and gifted art Lowe created in his lifetime, but also of those still here to continue it.



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