Runes (album)

Runes is the third studio album by British metalcore band Bury Tomorrow. It was released on 26 May 2014 through Nuclear Blast and was produced by Mike Curtis. The album is named after the Rune Poems and is the band's first to feature Kristan Dawson, who replaced founding member Mehdi Vismara as Bury Tomorrow's lead guitarist in 2013. In June 2014, Runes reached number 34 on the UK charts and was also number 1 on the UK Rock Chart.

This article is about the Bury Tomorrow album. For the Led Zeppelin album sometimes referred to as Runes, see Led Zeppelin IV.

Runes
Studio album by
Bury Tomorrow
Released26 May 2014 (2014-05-26)
StudioCDS Studios, Chelmsford, Essex, UK
GenreMetalcore
Length49:32
LabelNuclear Blast
ProducerMike Curtis
Bury Tomorrow chronology
The Union of Crowns
(2012)		 Runes
(2014)		 Earthbound
(2016)
Singles from Runes
  1. "Man on Fire"
    Released: 25 February 2014[1]
  2. "Of Glory"
    Released: 13 May 2014

Background and promotion

The band felt pressure during the recording of Runes in it being a follow-up to The Union of Crowns.[2] At the end of the recording process Daniel Winter-Bates reflected positively on Runes saying that although this was the first time the band had recorded an album being a part of a record label, since he didn't think about it, it didn't affect his performance. He further noted the band thrives under the pressure of feeling alone in the process and pushing themselves.[3]

The album's title Runes is derived from the Runic language system and the poems which describe each letters meaning.[3]

The band's first song from the album, "Watcher" debuted on BBC Radio 1 late night Rock Show on 6 January 2014 and a few days later was made available to stream.[4][5] Pre-orders became available on 20 February, and were announced on the band's official Facebook, along with bundle packs with other promotional material.[6] They intend to release a regular and a bonus version of the album; the original will contain the 13 tracks,[7] whilst the 'Bonus Version' will contain three exclusive tracks, along with a music video for the album's first single "Man on Fire" which was released on 25 February.[8][9] The second single and music video was released on 13 May, for the song "Of Glory".[10] The album was made available for exclusive streaming by Rock Sound on 21 May 2014.[11]

Composition

Style

Daniel Winter-Bates has commented that the record is "much heavier and faster than anything we've done before."[3] However, he noted that because of the band's stylistic diversity they have room to incorporate heavier and lighter elements with ease.[2]

Daniel Winter-Bates has commented that with the addition Kristan Dawson the band was able to include much more technical guitar riffs into their style.[3] The band had often referenced an affection for Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying and the influence these bands had on both Runes and the band as a whole.[2][12] The band have gone as far to say they want to "fly the flag" for old school metalcore.[3]

Themes

Dani Winter-Bates explains that each song on the album draws inspiration from a runic symbol. "Man on Fire" is explained to be about "...the struggle of humankind's sanity in an ever-changing world. The song itself is linked with the Rune for Man/Humankind and follows lyrically the ideas of a figure fighting their own thoughts and their fears getting the better of them."[13] Mannaz (ᛗ) is the rune that represents "Man on Fire" as they sold shirts with that rune representing that song.[14] When the second single "Of Glory" was released, Bates explained that the song "...is about making it through the struggles in life and disregarding naysayers and people that bring negativity."[10]

Each rune is linked to a song, which according to the album track listing are:

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[15]
All About the Rock[16]
Already Heard[17]
Dead Press!9/10[18]
Louder Sound[19]
Rock Sins6.5/10[20]

The album received mostly positive reviews, but also mixed reviews from several critics. Writer for All About the Rock, Zack Slabbert said "If you're a metalcore fan then this is another album to add to your collection. It's filled with awesome breakdowns and the guitar riffs on this album are so catchy and get stuck in your head instantly."[16] Already Heard rated the album 4.5 out of 5 and said: "It is a record that truly demonstrates why British metalcore is in the strong position it's currently in. Bury Tomorrow have confidently grown as a band on Runes, an album that is thoroughly compelling and powerful. It deserves all the praise it gets. Not an album to be ignored."[17] Zach Redrup from Dead Press! rated the album positively calling it: "What is perhaps most thrilling with Runes is that the record plays entirely to the strengths of Bury Tomorrow and makes no attempt to progress too far from their established expertise. Fine tuning, sharpening and polishing, this is a release which through embracing the explosive power of metalcore done well, is inevitably bound to catapult Bury Tomorrow into the stratosphere. Heavyweights take note, these erstwhile upstarts are soon to stand tall beside you."[18] Louder Sound gave the album a slightly negative review and stated: "At its worst, Runes feels nakedly derivative; Dani Winter-Bates's roar is a dead ringer for Parkway Drive's Winston McCall, while Jason Cameron's polite croon owes more than a little to Alexisonfire's Dallas Green. They are capable of richly textured, expressive metalcore but those moments feel few and far between here."[19] Will Stevenson of Rock Sins rated the album 6.5 out of 10 and said: "Runes isn't a bad album; indeed, the songs themselves are all decent enough, and if you're already a fan of the band it's definitely worth a listen. Unfortunately, there are no mega choruses and no beatdowns that make you want to punch lions in the face, certainly not in the vein of The Union of Crowns. Put simply, there's just no 'Knight Life' on this album. In a world where Architects just released the superb Lost Forever // Lost Together, why would you spend your time on this generic effort?"[20]

Following the album's success, Bury Tomorrow was nominated for Breakthrough Band of the Year at the 2015 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, alongside Halestorm, In This Moment and The Amity Affliction, but lost out to Babymetal.

Commercial performance

Runes entered the Official UK Chart at number 34. It debuted on the Official Rock Chart at number 1. The album also had success in the US, reaching number 16 on the Top Heatseekers chart.

Track listing

All music is composed by Bury Tomorrow[7]

No.TitleLength
1."Man on Fire"4:01
2."Shadow, a Creator"4:39
3."The Torch"4:14
4."Watcher"4:44
5."Our Gift"3:36
6."Darker Water"3:19
7."Another Journey"3:10
8."Under the Sun"3:31
9."Year of the Harvest"3:32
10."Garden of Thorns"5:03
11."Divine Breath"1:30
12."Of Glory"4:32
13."Last of the Ice"3:35
Total length:49:32
Bonus Version[8]
No.TitleLength
14."Hail the Lost"4:01
15."The Torch" (Acoustic)3:25
16."Watcher V.2"3:28
17."Man on Fire" (Music video)3:57
Total length:64:17

Personnel

Bury Tomorrow

Additional personnel

  • Mike Curtis – production
  • Will Putney – mixing

Charts
Chart (2014) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 34
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[22] 1
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[23] 16

References
  1. Bury Tomorrow (25 February 2014). "Man On Fire - Single". iTunes. Apple, Inc. Archived from the original on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  2. Alexander Milas, ed. (February 2014). "Tomorrow Never Dies". Metal Hammer. London, United Kingdom: Team Rock (253). ISSN 1422-9048.
  3. Ben Patashnik, ed. (February 2014). "Breaking Bands: Bury Tomorrow". Rock Sound. London, United Kingdom: Freeway Press (183): 38. ISSN 1465-0185.
  4. Jonathan Mitchell (7 January 2014). "Bury Tomorrow debuts "Watcher"". RockFreaks.net. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  5. "Bury Tomorrow Stream New Track 'Watcher' Online". Rock Sound. (Freeway Press). 9 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  6. "Pre-order Runes now!". Facebook. Bury Tomorrow. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  7. "Runes tracklisting". iTunes. Nuclear Blast. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  8. "Runes tracklisting (bonus version)". iTunes. Nuclear Blast. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  9. JLB. "Bury Tomorrow unleash new video for Man on Fire". Kerrang.com. Kerrang!. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  10. "Bury Tomorrow Unveil Video For 'Of Glory'". Rocksound.com. Rocksound. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  11. "Full Album Stream: Bury Tomorrow's 'Runes'". Rocksound.com. Rock Sound. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  12. Jonathan Mitchell (5 October 2013). Tim Larsen (ed.). "Bury Tomorrow". RockFreaks.net. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  13. Merlin. "Bury Tomorrow Unleash 'Man on Fire' Video". MetalHammer.com. Metal Hammer. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  14. "Man on Fire shirt design" (Twitter post). Twitter. Bury Tomorrow. Retrieved 6 April 2014. #MANONFIRE T-Shirts up NOW!
  15. Lyons, Todd. "Bury Tomorrow - Runes Review". About.com. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  16. Slabbert, Zack. "Bury Tomorrow – Runes". All About The Rock. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  17. Reid, Sean (26 May 2014). "Album Review: Bury Tomorrow – Runes". Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  18. Redrup, Zach (26 May 2014). "ALBUM: Bury Tomorrow – Runes". Dead Press!. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  19. Doyle, Tom (29 April 2014). "Bury Tomorrow: Runes". Louder Sound. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  20. Stevenson, Will (15 May 2014). "Bury Tomorrow – Runes". Rock Sins. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  21. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  22. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  23. "Bury Tomorrow Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
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