Bury The Darkness, a four-member metal band from Tempe, Arizona, has released a new single and video, "Suffocate". This song is an absolute banger and will resonate with listeners who feel like they are "suffocating" with challenges in their own lives.
The Bury The Darkness lineup includes Jared Harper (vocals); Marc Rosenfeld (guitar); Brandon Brantley (bass); and Devin Bowers (drums). The band has been together since 2019 when they started writing music, and released their first song in June 2020. It was definitely a challenge during the pandemic, but the band persevered.
An interesting fact about the band is that they all went to the same high school, but didn't actually hang out with each other. Brantley and Harper met in elementary school but didn't reconnect until junior year. Rosenfeld had a music theory class with Harper but never jammed with him. At the time Rosenfeld was in another band, but he knew Harper liked metal music. Rosenfeld and Bowers hung out a couple times in high school, and Bowers joined the band after running into Rosenfeld at an Underoath show.
Lyrics for Bury The Darkness songs are written by all of the band members, but Harper writes most of them, and organizes lyrics into the songs. Some tracks are a group collaboration, while others are done mostly by Harper and the band tweaks certain parts. In the case of "Suffocate", the whole band wrote the lyrics in the studio. They co-wrote the instrumentals with their producers, Ryan Daminson (Asking Alexandria, Memphis May Fire, The Word Alive) and Frankie Ghiloni.
"Suffocate" opens with heavy, fast-paced guitar, bass, and drums. Jared Harper's guttural screams dominate the verses. The musical elements of the chorus are more melodic, and Harper's clean vocals are in stark contrast to his hard vocals. In an interesting twist, the song ends on the powerful breakdown. It kind of leaves the listener wanting more, but also gives a sense of mystery -- how is the story going to end for the person who is "suffocating"?
Regarding the meaning behind "Suffocate", Rosenfeld says "We got inspiration from our daily lives. We're all in our mid-twenties and dealing with overwhelming situations like jobs, money, relationships, etc. We all would like to do music full-time, but we aren't quite there yet and it's a juggling act to give everything the attention it deserves." Rosenfeld adds that it can be easy to get sucked in by comfort, only to be crushed by harsh reality. However, this song can be an anthem of sorts, inspiring you to believe in yourself and do what you know is right despite what others think. That's the only way to escape from the suffocation the hardships can bring. The struggle is highlighted in the chorus:
"It's hard to breathe
Fighting all my life Lost in a dream Part of the machine Nothing left in me"
The music video for "Suffocate" was directed by Lance Gergar (Halocene, Rain City Drive), and Hannah Left Wright and Frankie Ghiloni helped on set. Rosenfeld, Brantley, and Gergar came up with the video concept over multiple planning sessions. Rosenfeld says, "Lance was amazing to work with. He's such a pro!" The video has scenes of the band performing the song in front of a video wall of varying neon red and white light patterns. Meanwhile, in another scene, a woman is tied to a chair in a room. She is wearing a gas mask at the beginning, but a man takes the mask off. The woman is clearly terrified. At the end of the video, some kind of smoke or gas fills the room. The woman tries to escape, but is unsuccessful, and she succumbs to the fumes. This part of the video brings to life the idea of being suffocated and feeling like you can't escape from life's challenges. The closing scene is a perfect reflection of the lyrics at the end of the song:
"Someone save me
I'm suffocating Someone save me I'm suffocating now"
Bury The Darkness is looking to release a full debut album next year. Not only has the band been writing songs with Frankie Ghiloni, but they also started working with Alex Adamcik and Kyle Koelsch from the band DED. The hope is to release new music consistently in 2023, with the album dropping later in the year. The band is also working on scheduling future live performances.
You can find Bury The Darkness on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and the band website.
<Annie Schlottman>