This Burning Age aren’t the first band to combine elements of rock/metal and dark electronica. However, for a band relatively ‘new’ to the industrial scene, they have a distinct sound all of their own. First up on their ‘Supplication’ EP is ‘Disappeared’. Things kick off with a drum machine, swiftly joined by a burly guitar riff that’s mirrored by an even beefier bass riff. Everything slowly builds into a nice biting main riff that’s underpinned by droning synth noise. There’s a very Rammstein moment with a muted synth-bass break, before we’re hit by an unfortunately underwhelming chorus.
You can tell the band’s intention was to create a dynamically lifting, epic section, but it seems to fall flat compared to the decent riffing and tight instrumentation of the rest of the track. ‘Your Will is my Kill’ comes in with some malevolent industrial percussive noises before the drums mesh right into them, and the guitars and bass add a really slick, mean riff which has a fantastic, edgy progression. The vocals flit between a muted groan and a rabid shout, and there’s an excellent pounding, almost tribal drums section, but again the chorus falls down compared to the strengths of the main riffs.
Final track ‘Want’ is tonally very different to the previous two offerings. Beginning with a ‘tick tock’ style sample and a deep, reverberating synth bass drum heartbeat, ringing piano chords take center stage. So far, quite Nine Inch Nails. The vocals are much higher in the mix, coming right to the fore, showcasing as yet unseen vulnerability. More up-tempo drums fade in, along with the rest of the instrumentation, including a nicely measured bassline, and things alternate between the ‘tick-tock/heartbeat’ and a steadily driving, densely layered crescendo. And that’s where it ends, short and sweet.
This EP is the first in a proposed four EP ‘cycle’ over the next year, culminating in a full 12 track album released in 2015. As a taste of things to come, ‘Supplication’ is a decent statement of intent. Let’s hope the other upcoming EP’s show an expansion of this offerings good qualities and some shoring up of it’s shaky points. As a stand alone offering, its interesting stuff, but we’ll reserve judgement as to how Supplication supplements the other works heading our way.
