BURNT BY THE SUN: Discography

Thinking back I have no idea how I found out about this band. All I really remember is that they were responsible for luring me to my first show at The Mr Roboto Project ... which, at the time, was a very revolutionary action in my life. I was attending shows almost every weekend at the time (2001) but mostly at the larger clubs ... or the Millvale Industrial Theater (another story for another day). The venue struck a chord with me and would actually become very instrumental in both my life and the Pittsburgh Hardcore scene for close to a decade. But enough about the venue and more about the band.

At the time, Burnt By The Sun had released both a 4 song, self-titled EP and a split with a New Jersey outfit named Luddite Clone. In a day before music was readily available on the internet, I always made a point to search out CDs of the bands BEFORE they came through so that I could be at least somewhat familiar with what I was getting into. These discs, however, grabbed my full attention and I had memorized all of the songs and lyrics before the show even happened. I remember their vocalist giving a brief explanation behind the lyrics to You Will Move ... and that was something I hadn't become accustomed to yet. It was a very unique experience at the time; having someone playing on the same floor you were standing on, speaking to you like an actual human being on a somewhat personal level. Needless to say, this set formulated a lot of my idea of what hardcore should be.

All of that being said; the EP and the split remain my favorite material from this band. Unlike most bands, these early songs do not possess the typically primitive sound you expect to hear from a band's debut offering. These short-lived discs contain some of the most vital material the band ever put to tape, in fact ... and that's not to discredit the later material!

The debut full length, Soundtrack To The Personal Revolution made quite a wave when it was released. At the time it was a pretty big deal when a "metalcore" band got signed to a label like Relapse or Century Media or even Metal Blade (funny, huh?). To Relapse's credit, they put a fair amount of promotion behind this album. I'm fairly certain every hardcore kid from 2002 had at least heard the opening track, Dracula With Glasses. If you don't believe me, just watch the following YouTube video from Hell Fest 2002.

The band would tour quite frequently at the time and started to break into the metal scene with the momentum from this release. While diehard fans would embrace the  follow-up full length, The Perfect Is The Enemy Of The Good, a lot of the hardcore scene seemed to lose interest with the release of this album. While the sophomore full length explored into the experimental realm, a lot of the key hooks and obvious breaks found amongst the chaos of their earlier material were not present on this release.

The band seemingly faded into obscurity with the lack of new material/touring and the members seemingly all partaking in different musical endeavors on the side when, out of nowhere, it was announced that the band would be recording a final album before officially disbanding.

Heart Of Darkness essentially sets the tone right off the bat with the very first notes. By the time the track Inner Station is complete you have been made well aware that the band had made a conscious decision to go out with a bang. With an obvious return to their style of old, this album would have potentially turned Burnt By The Sun into a household name had it been the follow up album to Soundtrack To The Personal Revolution.

The band played their final show at Webster Hall in 2011 and, unfortunately, nothing has been heard from them since. Anyone with information as to what the members are currently involved in should speak up in the comments section.

DOWNLOAD Part 1 (self-titled, Luddite Clone split & Soundtrack To The Personal Revolution)
DOWNLOAD Part 2 (The Perfect Is The Enemy Of The Good, Live From Contamination Fest & Heart Of Darkness)