AlbumsNovember 29, 201116,544 views

After The Burial In Dreams


In Dreams
1. My Frailty 2. Your Troubles Will Cease And Fortune Will Smile Upon You 3. Pendulum 4. Bread Crumbs & White Stones 5. To Carry You Away 6. Sleeper 7. Promises Kept 8. Encased In Ice
2010 Sumerian Records
Our score 8

1/26/2011

With the title of their sophomore effort, After The Burial seem to be hinting at where you might find a non-Faceless album released by Sumerian Records that is worthy of praise. Quite ironically, In Dreams turns out to be exactly that album. While the one-two opening punch of "My Frailty" and "Your Troubles Will Cease And Fortune Will Smile Upon You" won't do much to convince you that this album offers anything different than the instrumental masturbation or Cynic worship of the label's past offerings, the stylistic variations introduced with "Pendulum" set the tone for the rest of the album; by the end, the aggressive and generic opening tracks seem to fit perfectly in the overall picture. "Pendulum" starts off with some catchy mellow guitar playing before bursting into a melodic metalcore song that is still surprisingly heavy. It also marks the first appearance of the band's excellent use of clean vocals; the simple clean-sung passage in the chorus fits the album's tone perfectly, without resorting to robotic effects or pop metalcore crooning. The high-pitched harsh vocals here and throughout the album have a similarly raw feel to them (almost a live feel at times), leaving only the generic death grunts straggling behind. Moving forward, the fourth track revisits the opening tracks' "Sumeriancore" style, but with some added guitar melodies akin to the ones exhibited on "Pendulum." While this song is fairly enjoyable, it passes as more of a brief change of pace between "Pendulum" and "To Carry You Away." The latter track revisits the progressive leanings of the former and contains a stellar solo section. With "Sleeper," possibly the album's most simplistically brutal track, you'll start to notice a pattern. When the acoustic intro of "Promises Kept" hit, I can't say I was surprised; nor was I surprised when the song turned out to be really damn good. "Promises Kept" sees the band doing their best Between the Buried and Me impression, featuring the most prominent clean vocal spot and some underlying riffs that could have come straight from Alaska. My only complaint is that given how much more focus is put on the clean vocals here than on past tracks, the mix should have been adjusted; the harsh vocals still dominate the mix despite their background role. Ripping closer "Encased In Ice" then carries the album to a suitable end, but not before throwing in a well-deserved "Mutha****a come on!" Bottom Line: In Dreams plays out a lot like a Between The Buried And Me album. You're going to spend a fair bit of time sifting through generic metalcore before you hit something notable, but when you do, it all makes sense. The album's highlights are very enjoyable and memorable, and its low points are still easily digested. Reducing the unnecessarily dominant death vocals in the mix and songwriting would have made In Dreams even better.

45 comments

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RP_ 1/26/2011 11:02:20 AM

Ugh. Here's hoping it's better than the last one.

anonymous 1/26/2011 11:06:00 AM

It's just as bad as their last one. I can't believe this got an 8.

anonymous 1/26/2011 11:28:29 AM

also cannot believe this got an 8...listened to it once and will never again

skippy._ 1/26/2011 12:29:29 PM

its good. track two rips. two dudes above worship bags and bags of dicks.

Godfatherofsoul_ 1/26/2011 12:43:48 PM

I wanna suck their metal c-cks

johnny_ 1/26/2011 1:07:28 PM

album is great. marked songwriting improvement.

HBDad_ 1/26/2011 1:38:05 PM

Was blown away by this album! It took a few listens to really grasp what an amazing album this is. Its one of Sumerian's top releases... ever and I love most Sumerian stuff!

cheebus_ 1/26/2011 1:45:43 PM

this album sounds like autistic gays made it. i hope they get robbed on tour

zb_ 1/26/2011 3:18:55 PM

if you don't like metalcore than don't listen to it

zerpzerp_ 1/26/2011 3:24:23 PM

So to make your new album garner double the score of you previous one, all you have to do is add shitty clean vocals occasionally? sweet

xmusicislifex_ 1/26/2011 3:43:22 PM

great album great band

moogs_ 1/26/2011 6:34:49 PM

how the f*ck does this get the same score as a converge or pig destroyer album? reviewer has f*cking downs syndrome

d_ 1/26/2011 7:10:39 PM

there is no way this is an 8. seriously, i dare you to go to the myspace page and listen to a song. i admit, i got curious based on the high rating. what a waste of five minutes. i will never listen to this band again and other shawn reviews will promptly be ignore. here is a more suitable review. "this album is a generic metalcore album interchangeable with a million other albums release by sumerian. boring boring boring boring."

fukuimdrunk_ 1/26/2011 7:38:47 PM

Hmm.. didnt think this would get reviewed here, and it got an 8... what the hell is going on?

anonymous 1/26/2011 7:47:12 PM

wow, this is garbage. i thought this shit went out of fashion 5 years ago.

needhope_ 1/26/2011 9:41:17 PM

this is their third album btw. The only good part about this cd was the solo at the beginning. other than that, boring.

agent_friday_ 1/27/2011 10:30:16 AM

So this album gets praised for worshipping Between the Buried and Me, but every BTBAM album gets a 6 or 7...

you=dumb_ 1/27/2011 1:20:07 PM

dumbest review ive ever seen on this site, he basically said the album was a between the buried and me rip off, then used the word generic to describe alot of the album, then gave it an 8

dave_ 1/27/2011 2:15:37 PM

I bought this record just based on the hype..honestly never hearing a track from them (or the old material for that matter) just based on its hype of being meshuggah-ish and 'forward thinking'.. I listened to it and was beyond a waste of a buy. Nothing that got my attention. And the production sucked.. felt like I had it maxed on my headphones yet it just wasn't loud enough. Whats the point of playing 8 strings when its trebled out so damn high? Don't dig bands that start out songs with "co

donal king_ 1/27/2011 4:20:10 PM

no way f*ck no what the f*cking shit no god damn it

head_pants_now_ 1/27/2011 4:47:41 PM

i wonder how much ash paid this shawn gay for this review.

DaveClinch_ 1/27/2011 7:25:04 PM

I enjoy this band but this album is quite painful. The good moments are utterly beatd by terrible vocal melodies and the production sounds like its been copied from Periphery. I have tried over and over to get into this album but I find myself annoyed and terribly disappointed each time. I thought with the addition of a great vocalist to a already stacked band ATBs new album was going to be amazing but damn was I wrong. What in the f^*& happened?

towerofsluts_ 1/28/2011 12:17:01 AM

holy fucc this album is a 3/10 at the most. it pales in comparison with their first 2 releases.. and f*ck OFF for this comment"In Dreams plays out a lot like a Between The Buried And Me album. You're going to spend a fair bit of time sifting through generic metalcore before you hit something notable, but when you do, it all makes sense. "

EVizzle_ 1/28/2011 10:19:48 AM

Not an 8/10. At best a 4/10. Really a mediocre album that could never compete with the creativity songwriting, musicianship and production of any BTBAM album. I understand the music is slightly different stylistically, but for the love of God, at least make me want to listen and care about this album. I listened to it twice today and it had zero effect on me. Actually, it made me want to make my first comment on Lambgoat ever. I probably sound like a lot of douchebags that comment on here now, b

wat_ 1/28/2011 8:36:35 PM

i checked out their myspace too... lol at an 8/10. please don't let this guy review anything here ever again.

DolphinWeiners_ 1/28/2011 8:40:23 PM

Wow. This is f*cking terrible.

yousuck_ 1/28/2011 11:26:50 PM

saying that encased in ice is a good song is f*cking terrible. seriously..."muthaf*cka come on" this shit sounds like some nu metal bullshit. the rest of the album is good

jon_ 1/29/2011 2:03:25 PM

wow, seriously shawn? What a f*cking joke. 8/10? 8 out of f*cking 10 on this album. i honestly have nothing more than to say that you must be friends with someone in the band. this album was unbelievable garbage. complete shit. not one good thing on the album. no good transitions. terrible vocals. shit song structures. complete garbage. your bottom line doesn't even f*cking add up. you're going to sift through generic metalcore before hitting somehting enjoyable, but it all makes sense. low poi

jacob_ 1/29/2011 2:04:47 PM

agreeing with jon 100%. pretty pathetic that you would give a biased review. 8/10? laughable.

alex_ 1/29/2011 6:39:02 PM

this shit is gay as f*ck

frank_ 1/30/2011 3:06:50 AM

Its a good album, quit f*cking complaining

joe_ 1/31/2011 1:23:15 PM

if you cut this score in half it'd still be too high. This is Unearth/As I Lay Dying-core getting the same score as Atheist. f*cking lol. 100% guaranteed paid off review

Godfatherofsoul_ 1/31/2011 4:44:52 PM

Was really, really "blown" away by this one.

christalmighty_ 1/31/2011 5:49:29 PM

what the flying f*ck. shit band / shit label

blargenhaffer_ 2/3/2011 5:44:11 PM

4/10 would be generous, 8/10 is just outright ridiculous. i liked their old stuff alot, but this new album was the biggest let down of 2010. by the way Shawn should be fired.

dave_cyc_ 2/4/2011 8:26:05 PM

I actually went to school (music school) with Shawn and he actually knows alot more than you cheesedick losers about music so f*ck right off. This album is almost as good as BTBAM's best effort (Alaska) but lacks a little in the middle. No one got paid if it's just webby tired of losing money on a bunch of mountain dew pounding neo-nazi's and arab hipsters. night gays, gonna pound my gf later to this album (Pendulum, best track)

anonymous 2/6/2011 1:50:33 PM

this was the gayest review ive ever written

shawn_is_an_idiot_ 2/7/2011 7:59:35 PM

Nu metal garbage, absolutely terrible review. If you really know Shawn then smack him upside his idiot head.

Matthew Thibeault_ 2/9/2011 8:53:34 AM

This album is extremely well written. The guitar parts were seamless the playing is next level. the new vocalist is much clearer then the last. I would of given this a 9.5 i dont see why all u old school deathmetal heads cant get ur head out of ur asses and actually see good work when its released. this is good its interesting.

James_ 2/16/2011 11:01:31 PM

I was super disappointed by this album. overdone, unoriginal, uninspiring, unlistenable.

davidisrestless_ 2/22/2011 12:12:18 PM

The hell? This album sucked. 4/10 at best.

Jeffcrutcher_ 3/14/2011 1:13:39 PM

10/10. Metalcore forever.

anonymous 5/3/2011 12:01:40 PM

stuck up douchebags -1/10 vanflip

MAtthew Thibeault_ 5/12/2011 7:25:30 PM

Great album anyone who has any musicality will know that this stands up with mushuggah and dillinger linsten retarders and stop reading meg boards

MATT_ 6/6/2011 12:28:17 AM

THIS WAS A SOLID ALBUM. i dunno what all the hate is about. this is well written. good vocals AMAZING guitars. people need to get used to the fact that death metal is dead. experimentation is here to stay, deal!