Released in 2020, Cannibal is the sixth album by Bury Tomorrow, a British band that had become one of the pillars of European melodic metalcore. The record extends the formula that shaped their identity, built on the vocal duality between screamed and clean singing, while confronting themes tied to mental health head on. It is an album at once powerful and dark, marked by a sincerity that runs through every track and gives the whole a rare thematic coherence, where the musical heaviness echoes directly the gravity of the subject at hand.
An effective vocal duality
The band’s trademark lies in the contrast between its two voices: one aggressive and raw, the other melodic and airy. That alternation structures the songs, setting the fury of the verses against the lift of the choruses. On Cannibal, this mechanism works with formidable efficiency, offering immediate hooks without ever giving up the heaviness. The modern, muscular production highlights that intention: the guitars are massive, the rhythm section square, and the choruses receive a particular care that makes them memorable and cut to be sung back by crowds in a live setting. This contrast between aggression and light is more than a device: it embodies in musical terms the tension between the darkness of the lyrics and the hope that breaks through all the same, giving the songs their emotional relief.
Writing turned toward the intimate
What sets this album apart is the gravity of its subject. The lyrics tackle depression, anxiety and inner battles with a frankness rare in the genre. Far from cliché, they seek to give a voice to those who suffer in silence, turning personal pain into collective catharsis. That dimension lends Cannibal an emotional depth that goes beyond a mere show of force. The whole sounds like a record built for the stage, able to make crowds sing while carrying a message that lands personally with each listener, without ever tipping into wallowing or empty misery for its own sake.
A milestone in the band’s path
Cannibal confirms Bury Tomorrow’s place among the safe bets of British metalcore. Without revolutionising their formula, the band refines and deepens it, delivering a coherent and unifying record. Some may regret a lack of formal risk taking, but the command and the sincerity of the whole remain undeniable and carry the listener along.
In the end, Cannibal is a solid, honest and generous album that speaks to the body as much as the heart. It shows the band’s ability to marry melodic efficiency and thematic sincerity, in a genre sometimes locked in its own codes. For fans and newcomers alike, it is a reliable gateway into a metalcore that owns its emotions as much as its power. A record that marks an important and human step in the band’s journey, and one that takes on a particular resonance in the light of the band’s later developments.
