We’ve been fans of Somerset up and coming thrashers Unburier since we started UK Thrashers nearly 5 years ago, what started of as a group of teenagers playing Exodus and Metallica tinged thrash has moved into a different place, with main man Ben Champion being the sole remaining original member… but we are still massive fans and Chris Cleo reviews their brand new official debut EP Nebulous… here’s what he thinks

Aptly titled and resembling those hazy star-forming space masses – Nebulous is the first full EP from Somerset’s techy-thrashy-death metal future heavyweights Unburier.  Real ones in the scene will be well aware of the massive strides being made by Unburier in the last few years (hence the star-forming pun), and even realer ones will remember that their previous 2 track release was on my top releases of 2022 list.  That being said, the realest ones will remember their previous incarnation (hence me being hesitant to label this as their real ‘first FULL EP’), but to compare this new juiced up, monolithic entity to the raw and thrashy Unburier of old is pointless.  Light year jumps in musicianship will not only land Unburier in the conversation of the tightest live band you might ever see on the local scene, but wonder how they’ve managed to further step up their game from their previous release.

While the minimal, punchy, old-school image surrounding ‘Twisted Existence’ was super cool – I was surprised when ‘Nebulous’ was revealed.  Unburier were one of the last bands I’d have guessed to catch space metal fever, but contrary to the very fancy cover art it’s not being leaned into very much compared to other bands out there.  Whether you’re thankful for this or not is irrelevant as most bands seem to venture to the outer reaches at one point or another (with the best album of all time being Somewhere in Time), but lead single and opener ‘Over the Worlds they Create’ is about as spacey a cut as this’ll get.  Primal titan-like beings (I have no idea I don’t have a lyric sheet) chug through mostly mid-tempo death metal groove passages to a sweet trade off solo showing the two absolute highlights of what Unburier do.  Within the first 30 seconds you get a sweet dash of melody which is memorable live and some very tasteful double ride action – watch out Hoglan – and both of these elements are prevalent throughout all 4 tracks.  The song captures the general vibe of the whole EP, and whilst being a solid cut, showcases a fraction of what the other 3 tracks seem to specialise in a little more.  

With the techy bits and melodies on 11 in ‘Harmonious Absolutes’ and the blasting, double ride action and general groove (especially in the solo section) being the highlight in ‘The Voidflare’, each track brings something unique to the table, where it might seem hard to have filler in only 4 tracks – I wouldn’t put it past a local death metal band to slop out 4 songs that could be one 20 minute mess of a riff salad.  The absolute highlight of this release for me however is 618 (even realer ones will have already seen the playthrough of the second solo floating around on YouTube), hint – I’ll always pick the fastest, thrashiest tracks as my favourite and the nod to the groove of the Arise intro at about 40 seconds in just shows that they’ve got some great taste.  This one just brings riffs that sound old-school and blunt with the technical flair used a little more sparingly than the other songs which is a breath of fresh air if Necrophagist isn’t exactly your cup of tea.  Not to mention the mosh section at about 2:40 sounding downright mean, even through the very standard and clean modern production and will have heads rolling live.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock then Unburier have been on your list of bands that you wanna catch around the UK.  If you have been living under a rock however, this release will give you a well-rounded crash course in what you’ve been missing out on.  To say that these guys cant play this EXACTLY the same as it is on record live would not really be that bold a statement, and where most bands can get away with their studio recordings sounding tight – if you told me these were all recorded in one take I’d probably believe you.  A logical afterthought of listening to ‘Nebulous’ is wondering what’s’ next to come from the Unburier camp.  Techy bits, ripping solos and mad drum parts are all well and good in isolation on a single track or an EP, but coming up with a more longform approach for an LP is an entirely different beast.  Of course bands can forego thinking about how LPs play and release 40 minutes of whatever they want (and all the power to you if your band wants to do that), but after this I wish I had some kind of time machine to see how Unburier evolve further after this release.  Epics, instrumentals and soundscapes aside, these guys tapping into their collective musical mind will seemingly only produce good… unless they scrap it all and become a groove metal band, but only time will tell…

Unburier – Nebulous is out tomorrow, the 23rd Feb, in all the normal places!