Will someone save me?

Burner have plenty of firepower, but the most interesting moments on No One Is Coming to Save Us aren't necessarily the ones where the band goes hardest. The London outfit pull from death metal, metallic hardcore, black metal, metalcore and thrash, creating a sound built around crushing riffs, relentless drumming and harsh vocals. There's no shortage of aggression here, but the record really comes alive when Burner slow things down and introduce eerie guitar textures, distant samples and atmospheric passages that make the heaviness feel genuinely bleak. Those moments give the band a distinct personality. When they lean too heavily on straightforward metal riffs and predictable breakdowns, however, the album can feel like familiar territory.

The opening track, “The Third Revelation,” establishes that contrast early. Soft piano and slow guitars create a somber atmosphere, with static-like background noise gradually building tension before the heavier riffs finally arrive. The guitars are deep and drenched in reverb, supported by thick bass and slow, impactful drums. When the band eventually speeds things up with blast beats and black-metal-inspired passages, the intensity is undeniable, but some of the more conventional metal sections feel less distinctive. It's the patient buildup, creepy textures and whispered elements that give the song its identity. There's a compelling sense of dread underneath the aggression, although the lengthy introduction makes the track work harder than it needs to before reaching its heavier sections.

“What Will You Give?” featuring Josh Middleton and “Blood River” shift the emphasis toward direct punishment. The riffs move faster, the double kicks come out swinging, and the vocals become nastier as Burner embrace their death-metal side. Middleton's appearance gives “What Will You Give?” a noticeable change in vocal character, although the song is over before the guest spot has much opportunity to make the arrangement feel especially different. “Blood River” goes even harder, driven by relentless drumming, chunky bass and sharp, forceful riffs. The drummer deserves particular credit throughout the album: the double kicks hit with serious weight, the fills are clean, and the transitions between slower grooves and full-speed blasting are consistently tight. Still, these tracks are more convincing as demonstrations of the band's technical intensity than as particularly memorable compositions.

“Sunrise, Parabellum,” featuring Matthew K. Heafy, follows a similar approach, with fast riffs, deep gutturals and tightly executed drum patterns. There are flashes of tension when the guitars slow down and the eerie atmosphere returns, but the heavier passages sometimes lack the same personality. Heafy's contribution also blends surprisingly closely with the main vocalist, making his presence difficult to pick out. By contrast, “A Shattered Visage Lies” is a stronger example of what Burner can achieve when they combine their different influences. Black-metal blast beats and fried, abrasive vocals bring a chaotic edge to the song, while slower riffs and ambient white noise gradually restore that unsettling atmosphere. When the band drops into a huge, reverb-soaked breakdown, the thick bass and crashing cymbals make the whole thing feel genuinely massive. This is where the contrast between beauty and brutality starts working in the band's favor.

“Accelerationist” delivers another burst of tight, thrashy aggression, with sharp riffs and a thick low end, but its extended breakdown feels disproportionately long for such a short song. “Wish Granter” also suffers from a familiar problem: the slow, dense riffs and high-register guitar lines create a suitably dark mood, only for the eventual breakdown to feel oddly generic and emotionally flat. It's heavy, certainly, but heaviness alone can't carry every moment on this record.

The album becomes more compelling again with “The Agony of Peace.” Soft, eerie guitars establish a fragile atmosphere before huge drums, bass and riffs crash in around them. The song moves between fast black-metal passages and slower, emotionally charged sections, with simple guitar strums creating surprising weight through restraint rather than complexity. The screamed vocals work particularly well against these mournful melodies, and the gradual buildup gives the song a genuinely crushing emotional payoff. “Kurtz,” featuring Anthony Lucero, has a rougher start, with buzzing noise and samples leading into compressed-sounding heaviness. Lucero's guest vocals add character, and the return of those eerie guitars midway through helps the track find its footing, even if the breakdown still feels familiar.

“My Hands Become Weapons” is another highlight because it brings the band's strongest elements together. Rapid blast beats and aggressive riffs showcase their black-metal influences, while slower sections filled with washed-out samples and distant screams create a feeling of despair that the more straightforward material occasionally lacks. “Agni Kai” closes the record with intense drumming and sharp, tightly packed riffs, but the album's length begins to show by this stage. Its final atmospheric passage, however, provides a fitting conclusion, returning to the melancholy textures that distinguish Burner from more conventional extreme-metal acts.

No One Is Coming to Save Us has enough strong performances and memorable atmospheric passages to make it worthwhile, particularly when Burner explore black metal and use restraint to build tension. The drumming is consistently impressive, the bass brings serious weight, and the darker sections give the album an emotional character beyond sheer aggression. The main issue is consistency: some of the more conventional riffs and breakdowns feel generic, and the record could use a little trimming. Burner have a compelling sound when they let the atmosphere take control. I'd be interested to hear them push that side even further rather than relying so often on familiar metal formulas.