IN COVETING WAYS

"In Coveting Ways" is an EP release by Swedish post hardcore act Burst. The EP was released through Chrome Saint Magnus in 2002. It was released between their 2nd full-length studio album "Conquest: Writhe (2000)" and the band´s 3rd full-length studio album "Prey on Life (2003)". All tracks on "In Coveting Ways" were re-released as part of the "In Coveting Ways & Conquest: Writhe" compilation album in 2003. On "Conquest: Writhe (2000)", Burst showed a lot of interesting progress from their original melodic post hardcore style, but on "In Coveting Ways" they are close to perfecting their more progressive post hardcore style and the 4 tracks on the 16:37 minutes long EP could easily have been included on "Prey on Life (2003)". Both in terms of overall style but certainly also because of the high quality of the tracks.

The music on the EP is still based on melodic post hardcore, but even though the roots of Burst music are in hardcore the 4 tracks on the EP feature experimental twists and turns. The two longest tracks "Scavenger" and "Paradise Regained" feature multible sections while the two shorter tracks "Black But Shining" and "Ars Diavoli" are more energetic and direct but still rather sophisticated. For example take a listen to the fast-paced riff in "Black But Shining" that is doubled by an acoustic guitar. To my ears that´s a great adventurous idea and a shiny example of the importance of details in music. The vocals are raw hardcore screaming/shouting and Linus Jägerskog delivers his vocals with conviction and passion. Somehow he is able to sound both really aggressive and melancholic at the same time. I was a bit overwhelmed by the aggressive "core" type vocal approach when I initially started listening to Burst but over time I´ve grown to really appreciate his aggressive vocal style.

The musicianship are on a high level all around. Burst are an incredibly well playing band, but that was more or less obvious already on their debut album, but on this EP Burst show what they are capable of and it´s quite a bit actually. Fast intricate riffing and a dynamic rhythm section are in addition to the strong vocals some of the assets on "In Coveting Ways".

The sound production is powerful, professional and well sounding. A bit darker than the more clear sound on "Prey on Life (2003)" but still very well sounding. Overall "In Coveting Ways" is a very worthy purchase for people into challenging semi-progressive melodic post hardcore with extreme vocals. The music features many similarities to the music by artists like The Ocean, Converge, and Breach but Burst ultimately have their own unique style. "In Coveting Ways" is easily worth a 4 star (80%) rating.