Burnt by the Sun "The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good" CD
[Relapse]
Well, "disappointing" isn't necessarily the right word to describe this record, because it's still good... but at the same time, it's not really as exciting as the band's last two releases on Relapse if you ask me. I've been very enthusiastically excited about each of their last two releases, especially their last full-length, but after repeated listens "The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good" just feels more boring to me. I would definitely say that the band has honed their actual songwriting chops a bit, because the writing feels more fluid and purposeful to a large degree. And sure, they're still shunning categorization for the most part, hitting on everything from blistering grind and twisted Amphetamine Reptile dissonance, to thrashy metalcore and rhythmic math rock... But I don't know... it's not as enjoyable. Somewhere along the line they lost something. I guess it could be as simple as boiling down to bland riffs. More cohesive songwriting and a stronger focus won't necessarily be an improvement if the riffs become a bit more typical (which they are at times here, there's no way around it). An innovative band can still fall prey to run of the mill guitar parts and structures. Plus there are a handful of instrumentals that serve no purpose whatsoever. Three of them are titled by symbols, and midway through the bulk of the actual content you get one of those little "untitled" noisecapes followed by the painfully annoying instrumental "Arrival of Niburu", leading then into one of the strongest tracks of the disc with the cut to the chase rhythms of "Patient 957" (at times very reminiscent of Candiria). The last "untitled" piece is a total waste: 40+ minutes of a single tone followed by a few minutes of samples and static. I'm sure it plays into the grand scheme of things, but come on... I can't bring myself to pay much attention to that. The recording is pretty good. The mix is very clear, with nice and dry tones - possessing a bit more of an edge than their preceding work due to the clarity letting that dry warmth have more room. The one thing that gets to me here is that the kick drums aren't mixed loud enough at all, and the snare is way out from, so you can hear the snare far more than any other percussive element, so a lot of the drumming gets lost. But at least you can hear the bass really well, and the guitars and vocals are perfectly textured. You wouldn't know it from the outer packaging, but the layout is actually fucking sweet, as inside there are tons of brightly colored images collaged together with tiny band photos strewn across the top and a nice, subtle gloss overlay design as well. The lyrics and text are arranged vertically, and everything is nice and crisp. Usually I'm immediately blown away by this band's lyrics, which isn't the case at all this time out, but I still like the way they tackle the message, even if it's not as interesting as their past efforts. "Pax Americana Infidelis will be the next cry of the world. Hold on to what you've got. Hold on to all you've thought. 400 billion won't buy us peace of mind. But just keep that to yourself. Who are you to say we've got nothing to fear once we've wiped the board clear when madmen become kings (stand clear)?" I hate to say it, but this is a definite misstep for the band in my book. Little about this record is as engaging as the last one. A few minor improvements have been made, but at what cost? I've heard numerous people rave about this disc being the band's best yet, but I'm just not feeling it. There are a few incredible songs here (namely "Rev 101"), but there's also a lot of filler. (7/10)
Running time - 72:54, Tracks: mat
[Notable tracks: Battleship, Patient 957, Rev 101]
Burnt by the Sun - http://www.burntbythesun.com

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