BURST
Sweden's Next Generation
By: Richard Johnson
Jesper Liverpd is the bass player for BURST, from Gothenburg, Sweden, the metal band that has an album out on Relapse called 'Prey On Life.' A method for describing a sound of a band, even sometimes an accurate one, is to reference its music reviews. In BURST’s case, two bands that are brought up with the new album are NEUROSIS and ISIS.
"While we all are interested in these bands and their approach to music and find them to be very important in developing the concepts of heavy music," Jesper begins in his well spoken manner, "I can’t say that I think that our music is particularly similar to theirs. Is it because of the fact that we have clean, ambient parts in our music? If so, I think it is a very short stretching comparison."
Providing insight into BURST's sound, Jesper continues, "Sure, there are moments on 'Prey On Life' where the music has the same kind of vibe, but then it is just that: the vibe, or atmosphere if you will, that I can feel affiliated to. I can relate to the moodiness, to the brooding atmosphere that lies beneath their music, but other than that I find it very different. Whereas NEUROSIS and ISIS are kinda sludgy and abrasive at times, 'Prey On Life' is, although occasionally similarily abrasive, a lot more intricate in the way that the instruments work. There’s for example a lot more focus on technical dynamics and the mix between fast and slow parts."
There’s been opinions floated around about an AT THE GATES influence in BURST's music, perhaps moreso in the lyrics than in the actual riffs and drums and sound.
"I can honestly say, being one of the two people who write the lyrics," Jesper responds, "that there is no AT THE GATES influence in our lyrics, whatever that is. This came up during another interview I made a while ago, and the girl was referring to the fact that the word 'nausea' was in one of the songs, and that this was supposed to be the AT THE GATES influence. That kinda speaks for itself, right? As far as music goes, well, it has never been intentional. None of us has listened actively to AT THE GATES or any similar kind of 'Gothenburg Metal' for years, so if people find it in BURST it is purely coincidental. I like AT THE GATES, I have done so since 'The Red in the Sky is Ours,' I know all of them fairly well, but I have a hard time finding the specific parts where we supposedly sound like them."
The 'Swedish Metal' tag is another tool for quick descriptions.
"I can’t say that we have consciously tried to rid ourselves of any 'Swedish Metal' tag; stuff like that never really occurred to us," Jesper says. "The funny thing is, when we make music there is never any question or brief second of afterthought about how the music is going to sound. We never sat down and constructed a grand scheme or plan of what we were going to do with our music; we just made music without thinking of what we wanted to sound like or what band we enjoyed the most at that moment."
Some may hear Norwegian Black Metal rubbing off on the guitar chords and riffs in places on the new album, or imagine EMPEROR playing similarly to these parts on one of their last two records.
"EMPEROR are one of those bands that I can more clearly relate our music to,' reveals Jesper. "Not that BURST is Black Metal or anything, but I can definitely relate to their sense of arrangement, to their eclectic and progressive element, to their bombastic and dynamic sound, and to their use of minor dissonant chords. There is a certain feel and mood over their albums that I think you can also find in BURST, even though the atmosphere might be different. But then, this is me talking. Ask some of the other guys and you’ll get a different answer. It’s hard to speak for a group comprised of five persons with very decisive musical ideas, and who take integrity for granted."
In terms of what BURST is trying to achieve muscially, when describing what it is about the new album that's different from the band’s previous records, Jesper says, "I don´t know, more accomplished, maybe? Hard to pinpoint what exactly differs from previous efforts, but we all definitely feel that in some sense 'Prey On Life' is the 'magnum opus' of our musical evolution up until now. We feel that the music therein is kind of the apex of what we have always wanted to do. 'BURST refined,' maybe? I definitely see a straight line between both 'Conquest: Writhe' and especially 'In Coveting Ways' in that they lead up to 'Prey On Life,' but this last album came out more or less precisely according to our vision as opposed to the older stuff which always has a bunch of weak moments. On 'Prey On Life' everything — harmony, dissonance, arrangement, intensity and atmosphere — is where we want it to be. I can’t explain it better than that."
The members of BURST seem to have a great interest in developing thier sound over the span of their releases. Some bands place more importance on the music than the lyrics, and perhaps don't concern themselves with developing the latter as much as the former.
"I definitely think lyrics are important," Jesper confirms. "Or should I say, they are important to me. I think great lyrics can really make a band; bad lyrics can make a band worse. I don’t really consider lyrics to be able to evolve or develop. Lyrics aren’t something that you can become good at in my opinion, at least not lyrics that are based around personal outpourings, like our lyrics. Either you are good or bad at expressing your thoughts, simple as that. As far as BURST is concerned, the lyrics have always been the product of mood and state of mind, and I don’t think that is something which is better or worse depending on where you are in your career. I like to think that the tool, that is, the use of vocabulary and language, might get more precise, but the content of the lyrics won’t evolve. They’ll change of course, but not evolve, if you know what I mean."
Speaking candidly, Jesper continues, "Aw fuck, I really do feel uncomfortable talking about my lyrics. I assure you, they are sincere and thought through, but trying to explain lyrics which are based in metaphor and allegory, meant to mask the straight meaning of the text, can become very pretentious. Especially when they are dark or sombre, as ours often are. I don’t want to ruin anybody else’s experience."
Jesper relates back to the original question. "The lyrics definitely belong to this album in the sense that we tried to make whole, a holistic effort as opposed to a disc only comprised of a bunch of songs, a cool cover and lyrics on top. The lyrics definitely go hand in hand with the feel of the album and the artwork, and that is something which hasn’t been done to this extent by us before."
The tone of the record is interesting, as mainly it is a metal recording, but the guitar sound and the vocal mix don't have as much "bite" or "edge" as some other contemporary metal records. Not speaking about the compositions so much as the production, one wonders if BURST is trying to reach others besides just metalheads with its music.
"There was never any commercial alterior motive to the production, no specific target audience in or outside the heavy music scene," explains Jesper. "If the guitars sound less edgy, that’s the way we thought they should sound when we recorded them. I don’t think this album would’ve benefitted from any fat, dense modern metal production; I think that perhaps would’ve made the album sound more generic. I think that the guitars are really heavy, but instead of making them heavy all the way through, they are heavy when they need to be heavy. To make an album diverse and dynamic, it is important to adjust the production to that idea. Fredrik Reinedahl, our producer, is in that way one of the most talented producers I have ever worked with."
Jesper goes on to say, "If people outside metal appreciate this record, well, we are more than happy. That is becoming one of the goals with what we are doing, but mostly it is about reaching people who are interested in music and are struck by it in a grand way. I think it is wrong to sort of underrate metallers, because people into heavy music tend to be the most open minded knowers of music there is, and in that sense I’d rather that metal people get this than any indie kid or something. I don’t know why metal so often is looked down upon, even from their own ranks. It’s like some bands go, ‘No, we want to reach outside metal,’ implicitly saying that metal people are ignorant or something, or that metal is undesirable. Fuck that. As a band utilizing diversity we want to reach all kinds of people, sure, but not at the expense of the heavy music fans, be they Death Metal, Hardcore, Stoner, Black Metal or what have you."
But, looking back at BURST’s first LP and EP, and now to the new album, in which direction, one may ask, is BURST headed musically?
"I couldn't say," admits Jesper. "It's not like we make definitive plans every time we start making new songs; it more or less turns out the way it does without us having too much control over it. I know we intend on playing around with different vocal approaches, we’ll probably be using more instruments to achieve whatever sound or feel the new songs require, but as to how the end result will be your guess is a s good as mine. That depends on what kind of songs we make, and to this I am ignorant. Again, dynamics is an important part of BURST, and if I was to predict anything, it would be extended use of this. The most important thing is that the music is fulfilling, that it creates a gut feeling in us, that it has a profound impact on us."
When asked if the guys in BURST are satisfied with their compositions, or have they, to use the phrase, taken the first step of a thousand mile walk with the new record, Jesper as always is well-considered and has much to say.
"As you’ve probably gathered, we are, in all possible humbleness, very fulfilled by what we’ve produced on this last album. As a band it is natural that you will in some way enjoy the music you perform; otherwise it is impossible to even be in the band, let alone create music, and I think this is a general axiom. 'Prey On Life' is a proud moment for us, for sure; we’ve come a long way to get to this, and we’ve gone through a lot of destructive periods and events to make it.It is fantastic to see so many people out there actually appreciate it to such an extent; it is incredibly fulfilling to see that people are actually understanding what we have been trying to do with this disc. You sit in the studio and all you can do is just make something that speaks to yourself, something that has a deep impact on us and only us, and then kudos and great luck if people outside the band also appreciate it. That we were to receive these kinds of reactions is inspiring. Some people out there think like we do, some people have the same appreciation of music as we do!"
"Saying this," Jesper concludes, "I will definitely not denounce the earlier releases. I think they had their place in our band evolution, and we were content with them when we made them, even though we grew weary of them after a while. With 'Prey On Life' the music hasn’t gotten old yet. So, considering this, I think maybe 'Prey On Life' is the third step on the thousand-mile walk. We are all really excited to start making new music, to evolve, to see where the music takes us next. Because with BURST, it’s not really a matter of us taking the music places; rather the music takes us new places. Maybe we'll make a similar record, maybe we'll sound like Tarantel or something. Who knows?"
www.burst.nu
|
|
|