Twelve years into their existence, Buried Inside are just now releasing their fourth album, Spoils of Failure. The practice of allowing four years to go by between releases can be a dangerous one, possibly causing your ear for quality to decline or a perfectionism to conquer your logic. This has not been a problem for Buried Inside in the past, as they have always maintained a stunning capacity to flex out sludgy sonics with epic crafting of song, never showing any signs of slowing down.
It's unfortunate that Spoils of Failure is the first album from them that doesn't quite live up to the standards they have set for themselves. At fifty-four minutes, it's the longest running album they've ever recorded, and when you pack more volume onto the record then it better be worth the time to listen to. Because Buried Inside favor slow tempos and a downcast mood, they've always been able to keep it interesting with thrilling dynamics the occasional violin break. Hardly any of this shows up on Spoils of Failure, an album that is more content to bludgeon rather than surprise.
A valid criticism of Buried Inside has always been Nick Shaw's reliance on one vocal tone in his screaming, never varying from it at all. The one surprise that does occur here is that Shaw has changed it up a bit, bringing his scream into a slightly lower register, and thankfully enunciating his words better. This is a step in the right direction as Shaw's lyrics are as always forward-thinking and absolutely brilliant. He's not so much a political lyricist as he is a world reporter, stoically informing us of the breakdown of all social formations and how we are all fighting a losing game, and naming the songs with a Roman numeral and nothing else.
Buried Inside have not lost their magic. "VII" features some soaring guitar playing, and even harmonizing between Andrew Tweedy and Emmanuel Sayer, a definite first for the band. Strangely, its main chord progression is almost identical to a song of their 2001 album Suspect Symmetry, which they have been known to purposely do, so maybe it's not a big deal. Mike Godbout's drumming also stands out, like when he keeps a furious snare roll going for nearly a minute. This is talent that truly should be commended.
But like Godbout's drumming, the good qualities of Buried Inside just don't come out enough to make this a really great album. Most of the songs stay with one drumbeat or tempo the entire six minutes, not offering much to draw you in. As an effort from any other band, I'd be impressed, but I know Buried Inside can do better than what we hear on Spoils of Failure.
