Die, Emperor! Die! - Burned out Bright - split - 7

Labels: Friends Forever
Review by: Andy Malcolm

This is it. This is the jawns. This is the lifeblood. Looking at the record packaging is enough to send a self respecting emo kid giddy with excitement, extracting the thin black sliver of vinyl from it screenprinted card goodness, and gently placing side A (Die, Emperor! Die!) onto the turntable, preparing for the raw emo excellence that a measly 2 kids are able to produce. “Six Foot Beneath My Heart” is amazing. It blows me away each time I play it, just music hewn out of nothing and carved into beauty. Everything about this rules. The non-existant production, the harsh vocals, the slower bits where it breaks down and they cry, the searing guitar that audibly lacerates. It has it all. I guess there are only 2 other new bands I have heard in the past couple of years that have thrilled me as much on first listen as these guys, and they are the Pine and the South. That is how good these guys are. DIY EMO FOREVER.

Burned out Bright were never going to really top that, and I haven’t listened to their side as much. They play a more standardised screamy emo style, although again they have an awesomely roughed up lack of production, harsh vocals and some nice melodic parts but it has a slightly more metally flavour with the rumbly bass guitar. Overall I find it very Saetia-esque but not as polished, which is fine by me. They have an awesome emo twinkle part where they come back with those harsh vocals and it’s spot on. I’ll definitely be checking out what they do next.