REVIEW: Pyrithion – “The Burden of Sorrow – EP” (2013)

Artist:  Pyrithion

Release:  “The Burden of Sorrow – EP”

Tracklist:

1. The Invention of Hatred
2. Bleed Out
3. Rest In the Arms of Paralyzed Beast

A trio made up of Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying, Ryan Glisan of Allegaeon, and Andy Godwin formerly of The Famine and Embodyment, Pyrithion almost seems like something coming from out of nowhere.  Without warning, the death metal three-piece showed itself and announced its upcoming EP, “The Burden of Sorrow,” and added that, depending on the success and feedback of it, their might be a future for the band.  So, all we can think is this – will we hear more from Pyrithion?

While it is a short amount of songs, it is an understandable thing, since this EP is only a test to see if there is any point in continuing this project.  The album synchs together the members’ talents very well – Tim Lambesis stepping up his game and not sticking to the lower vocals only, belts out some of the sickest vocals any listener has heard from the man in a long while.  The guitar skills of Ryan Glisan and Andy Godwin alone are great in their own right, as any fan of The Famine and Allegaeon would know, but together their sound is only pushed even further – to be fair, the guitarwork doesn’t come close to what Allegaeon could have produced, but all the same it is a great sound.  These three have put together their talents and avoided trying to sound like their respective bands, succeeding at both, and, hopefully, have “passed” the test they were undergoing.

Although, maybe they failed that test.  Did they?  While the EP does have a nice sound all its own, and stands out from the three’s other work, it is a bit sad that it didn’t have the sort of guitar work you’d get out of Allegaeon – which honestly would have pushed this release far up in my mind.  As well, it, at times, just didn’t “feel” right.  I’ll try to be more specific – while it is a good sound, and does come together well, it sometimes just sounds awkward.  There’s just something about it that just wasn’t there for me, something just a little soulless about it.  Maybe it’s just me – maybe I’m just hearing things, but some readers and listeners might agree.  The EP also has a tendency to sound a bit generic and bland – more or less a sound you could hear just about every deathcore and death metal band doing these days.  Sometimes the songs did have bits and pieces that were stand-outs and worthy of praise, but overall they did sound sort of plain.

The song that really gave this EP worth was “The Invention of Hatred,” it just had that sound that you’d want out of this band.  The blast-beats weren’t “too much,” the vocals were absolutely spot-on and diverse, and the guitarwork wasn’t solely technical or constantly just chugging the same few notes over and over again.  It could, to any random listener, possibly sound a bit like a generic deathcore or death metal song, but it was the embodiment of this EP and, to me, this project.

Hopefully we get to hear more from Pyrithion, and personally I hope they go with more of a sound like “The Invention of Hatred.”  No, I’m not saying just replicate the song over and over again, but that song just had a nice structure and a good way of doing things – I’m sure you know what I mean.  “The Burden of Sorrow” released on the sixteenth of April through Metal Blade Records, and is available through Consumer Merch and iTunes.  Pick it up and help to ensure we hear more from this group!

Rating:  7.8 / 10

For Fans Of:  Those Who Fear, The Schoenberg Automaton, Hummano

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