Just like on the previous albums, on Surrounded By Vultures Bravestar
plays quite straight forward hardcore full of sing-along parts and
breakdowns. It?s still aggressive, in-your-face hardcore and the band
still relies heavily on thrash-inspired riffs, bumped up tempos, thick
bass and intensive drum work but has also tried couple of new tricks to
prevent things from getting boring. This basically means the songs got
more complex with more variance in tempos and some metallic elements or
even hard rock parts thrown in.
It?s not always the best thing to do for a hardcore band, and some of
the experimentation get the job done and some do not. Hardcore tracks
shouldn?t be longer than 4 minutes, that?s the rule, and the band is at
its best when they focus on fast paced riffs and shredding riffs. I
definitely don?t like the chorus for The Declaration, which basically
makes it one of the weakest tracks on the album. Luckily, it?s followed
by Standing Strong, which is as sharp and hard-hitting as I would expect
from this band. The title track goes hard as well and that?s the type
of shit I wanna hear more! Lyrically, things are more serious than on
band?s more party-oriented previous albums, as the songs deal with
subjects such as fakes, broken trust, friends passing, and standing up
for yourself.
If you're a fan of the heavier hardcore acts like Death Before Dishonor,
Terror or Agnostic Front, and generally are looking for heavy metallic
hardcore, you should check it out cause you might enjoy what Bravestar
are doing. I still prefer band?s debut album, but this one is also
solid.