The British extreme metal scene is in rude health at the moment. Whether that’s the powerful political black metal of Dawn Ray’d or the ever growing popularity of the mathcore wizards Rolo Tomassi , it’s becoming harder and harder for bands to stand out as being head and shoulders above the top tier of acts, and one could argue that very few of the more death metal leaning bands haven’t produced a truly top tier record for years. Until, now that is. With It All Returns To Nothing, the London based Burner have released the best straight ahead (Relatively) UK extreme metal record since Black Breath dropped Sentenced To Life, and one of the best British metal debuts of the last twenty years. Seriously.
Their 2022 EP, A Vision of The End was a concentrated blast of gloomy, brutal death metal infused hardcore that blew the socks off everyone lucky enough to listen to it. It was raw and ramshackle but reeked of talent and promise. The influences of bands like Trap Them, Lamb of God (The first two records and a smattering of Burn The Priest) and the aforementioned Black Breath, alongside a myriad of groups from across the extreme metal spectrum shine through, in a way of worship and homage rather than being simply derivative, though at times it can be a bit of a “Hey that sounds like X” band. This is one of a very small batch of negatives though, as rather than be simple hero worship, the band take their inspirations and run with them, blending and coalescing into their own style.
“One of the best metal debuts of the last twenty years”
Upon pressing play you’ll find yourself taken aback by the utter monstrous nature of the production, courtesy of one Lewis John’s, famed for his work with their labelmates Svalbard. As ‘Hurt Locker’, the albums first single kicks in, you soon realise what all the hype is about. Heavy feels like too weak a descriptive for the band, as rollicking drums, paint-stripping shrieks and menacing lows from vocalist Harry Nott grab you by the throat and begin the albums journey of beating you senseless.
A contender for song of the year is up next, as the title track ‘It All Returns To Nothing’ is a scathing mix of The Secret at their most Kvlt and the claustrophobia of Cult Leader. Opening with a riff begging for a circle pit, it volleys your brain all over before ending with an utterly frantic black metal barrage. Every single band member is playing for their lives here, yet there’s a maturity in the songwriting and performing beyond their tender years.
Lyrically, the themes from the first album carry over, with a focus being on war, suffering, injustice and essentially, how completely fucked the world is at the moment. The band isn’t afraid to be a little less serious however, as ‘Pyramid Head’, named for the iconic Silent Hill villain shows. A glorious blend of death and black metal at their most vicious with a few panic chords thrown in for good measure, it sounds exactly how you’d expect getting murdered by the sword wielding horror to go.
It’s when listening to ‘Struggle Session’ and ‘Pillar of Shame’ that you start to think to yourself “This is something special”. There’s something for all colours of the heavy rainbow here, and they’re all done so well. Want a breakdown that’s going to make you say “Oooft” out loud? Fancy some knuckle dragging death metal? Or are you more a fan of grooves that wouldn’t be out of place on As The Palaces Burn? They’re all here, and ready to blow you away. It feels like a worthy comparison to make between the aforementioned Lamb of God record and this, as both are phenomenal examples of how to be uncompromising, creative and rawer than a piece of meat in the first episode of Hell’s Kitchen.
“For a band three years into their career to have dropped an album like this is phenomenal.”
An almost sinister instrumental on ‘Trinity’ gives way to ‘Prometheus Reborn’, with lyrics as hard hitting as it’s instrumentation, focusing on the impending nuclear threat and how we could all be doomed with the flick of a switch. This isn’t an album with a semblance of hope or optimism, rather an aural acceptance of the end. ‘EF5’ throws some classic bay-area thrash circle pit riffs into the mix and will surely be a staple of the live set when this album gets toured, while ‘The Long March’ will keep the hardcore kids happy, sounding like it could have came off a Martyr Defiled record with its panic chords and chugs.
The final two tracks flip the script somewhat, with the penultimate track being the longest, clocking in at over seven minutes. This track is seemingly a showcase for what the band can do, with Harry veering between Kataklsym -esque guttural shrieks, bowel shuddering lows and a short, but powerful spoken word piece. After a crushing, almost doom part, we get an almost ethereal, ambient movement that builds and builds, lulling you in before grabbing you and scraping your face clean off with a frankly ferocious black metal blast and ending with a breakdown that would shame most deathcore bands of today. ‘Waco’, the albums closer, is 70 seconds of knuckle dragging death metal, which, let’s be honest, is a fantastic way to end a record.
The only real issues with the record are the one mentioned earlier, the sound in relation to the bands influences. Yes, they are blended and meshed together in dizzying ways, but there’s one too many times you’ll hear something and go “Oh that riff sounds like Entombed or “That breakdown sounds like Converge. This is a small gripe however, and there’s more than enough promise in the band to know that they’ll grow and make the blend their own on the next release. But, if this is the only thing wrong with a record, then it’s a bug crushed under the weight of its mammoth achievements. It shouldn’t also come as a surprise that on a sonic level, there isn’t much variety in the sound barring the various extreme metal sounds.
For a band three years into their career to have dropped an album like this is phenomenal. Naysayers may cry too much hero worship, but if you look at all of the bands mentioned, that’s one hell of a pool of inspiration to draw from. The craft, the brutality, the uncompromising attitude of the band all come together to make a record for the ages. Earlier in the review, it was said that this was one of the best British Metal debuts of the last two decades. Scratch that. This is one of the best debuts of the last twenty years of metal in the world. Save a spot for this in your album of the year lists now, and bask in the glory of Burner.