UK-based metal band BURY ME WHERE I FALL have been steadily chugging away, making small releases for the past couple years and released "The Faded" Ep in July of 2021. The band formed in 2018 after guitarist and vocalist Phil Kavanagh aka Chili Phil moved to the East Midlands from Birmingham some 6 years ago and met up with some local musicians. Bassist Steve Smithard and drummer Gav Eaglefield formed with the intention to create heavy, yet melodic music together. They originally started as a 4-piece but quickly slimmed down their membership to a tighter 3-piece setup. The trio met up in the in the East Midlands - South Derbyshire and Leicestershire specifically - in a venue in Coalville known as the Vic where they feature all kinds of bands. Early on they struggled to find a name, but in sharing their favorite bands, they came upon a song called "Bury Me Where I Fall" and upon realizing that no one - that they know of - was using it as a band name, decided to take it on for themselves.

Ever since their formations BURY ME WHERE I FALL has been consistently releasing little collections of songs - or as they call them "Mini Albums" - beginning with their first three track EP "Under Blackened Skies" in late 2019 which received a glowing review from GBHBL.com. They then took their sound live to many venues including in a competition to earn a spot in the "Bloodstock" festival titled "Metal 2 the Masses: Birmingham". Unfortunately, due to the lockdowns live shows were canceled for much of 2020 so they did not get a chance to play but Chili Phil kept up strong engagement with the fans via recording acoustic versions of their songs and sharing them on their Facebook page. This also afforded them lots of time to build out their repertoire and craft even more songs with the three-track "Beat Down on the Brave", the aforementioned 3-track EP "The Faded" and finally the 5-track "Always the Villain, Never the Martyr" in 2021.

After reading an interview in which they list black metal as one of many influences, I was expecting a much different listening experience after hearing BURY ME WHERE I FALL's "The Faded". The band's sound is a far cry from that but could be compared to others they listened such as KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, METALLICA and PANTERA. The title track explodes with some interesting guitar double stops and interesting timing shifts before quieting, letting the voice of Chili Phil float over the music like an old crooner out of an antique radio, its an amazing effect. But he does veer in the heavier sections into more James Hetfield-like growls bordering almost on black metal scream but not quite. Next track "Save Yourself" reminds me most of the FOO FIGHTERS with heaviness but a similar quiet section of the verses with an almost anthemic like chorus similar to a song like "Times Like These" with more pummeling grit to the guitars. Final track "World Below" is more thrash minded with a chugging, driving riff starting out aggressive but becomes more rhythmically monotonous in the chorus, a bit of a letdown. Hopefully they are able to cobble all of these creative nuggets into a full album because as they are, they aren't as varied to be too exciting, but alongside some of their other material, it could produce a really, great well-rounded full record.