Page 72 - Metal Hammer Issue 334 - UK (May 2020)

BURY TOMORROW

othing worth doing is their last album, 2018’s Black Flame, Putting pen to paper was tough, not
easy’ is a motto that Bury but metalcore’s most conscientious just for him, but for guitarist and clean
Tomorrow have lived, workhorses are back on the campaign vocalist Jason Cameron, who worked
breathed and bled since trail for their new album, Cannibal. with him on the lyrics.
they emerged during the We’ve come to meet Dani at a chilly “He had to get into my head and
height of the metalcore studio in north London to chat about it. I wouldn’t want anyone to get into my
boom in 2006. It’s a grit- Unsurprisingly, their sixth full-length head,” he says. “Having to delve into
your-teeth attitude that bears the same glorious hooks and my darkest moments was tough for
has seen them through zinging choruses that have made Bury him because he didn’t know it was
many a tough time, and Tomorrow such a beloved force in the as bad as it was, because I hid it. Even
you get the sense it might just have metal world. But beneath its super- Dav [Winter-Bates, Bury Tomorrow
got frontman Dani Winter-Bates charged veneer, Dani explains that, bassist and Dani’s brother] would
through today, too. “We just filmed lyrically, Cannibal is anything but be the first to admit he didn’t know
the video for [new single] Better business as usual. how bad it got. Dav was like, ‘This is
Below in the studio next door, and “Before this album I took a conscious really dark, Dan.’ But it was a point
we did some submersion tanks,” decision to be a lot more honest with where I thought, ‘Fuck it, if I’m going
he says when he greets us today, people,” he says, still wrapped up in to go in, I’m going to go in. Let’s not
with a grin that’s half-grimace. “I had a padded jacket after his earlier dunk. do it half-arsed.’”
to be put in water in a six-foot tank “Our fans know I’ve been on a journey To understand these songs, we need
which was… fun.” Was it cold?! and I’ve been open with them, but to go back to 2016. The band were
“Fucking FREEZING!” I haven’t been open enough.” promoting their fourth album,
The band’s journey to get here has Dani’s always been one of our scene’s Earthbound, which had put them
been slow and often difficult. After loudest advocates for the importance back on the radar for many metal
almost splitting in the face of industry of looking after your mental health, fans and on tour with Parkway Drive
indifference in 2011, Bury Tomorrow frequently using his Twitter platform and Architects. But behind the scenes,
continued to plug away, touring to post advice and mindfulness tips. Dani was struggling. “[During] the
steadily and amassing an arsenal of And although he says he’s written Earthbound cycle, I was my most
fans and lightning-sharp anthems. songs on the topic before, this time he unwell,” he says. “[I was] quite severely
Now, there’s a real sense they’re on wanted to strip away the metaphors depressed. Anxious going beyond
the brink of taking a seat at UK metal’s he’d used in the past to mask the true just being anxious, to panic and crisis.
top table. Sensing this, it’s been less darkness behind his lyrics, discussing I wouldn’t say I was suicidal, but if it
than two years since they released the severity of his own experiences. had carried on the way it was going…

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