The Felix Culpa released Sever Your Roots in early 2010, and it quickly became one of the most memorable, heartfelt, and critically acclaimed albums of the year. After signing to No Sleep Records (The Wonder Years, Balance & Composure, Into It. Over It.) the band was set to release a new EP titled Bury The Axe to add on to the reissue of Seven Your Roots. The EP is finally here after countless delays, but it was certainly worth the wait.
 
“Mallets” slowly builds from airy guitars and haunting drums until a shaking bass line brings the song from its first two movements to its final third. With just over a minute left in the nearly six minute song, all parts of the track seem to come together to create a static blend of angst-filled guitars and eerie drums that perfectly set the scene for the two remaining songs on the EP.
 
There were no vocals on Bury The Axe’s jarring intro, but Marky Hladish’s phenomenal voice enters the scene quickly on “Towers.” Musically, the track is very similar to the normal formula the band uses, but Hladish’s vocals and lyrics easily become the bright spot on the EP. The band shifts between slow and fast tempos, and Hladish’s voice mimics the changes with different volumes, melodies, and levels of aggression and passion throughout the track to make the music and vocals blend together in a stunning way. After an explosive outro, similar to the “Mallets,” Hladish calms sings, “I pressed my wrist against your rib cage // Just to feel it when you pull away // There’s a disconnect that’s louder than the things that we don’t say” as the track fades into the EP’s closer.
 
“Spaces” is a six-minute epic that shows off what the band does best: taking the listener through a journey with musical highs and lows. Slowly crescendoing over excellent guitar work, “Spaces” hits it high mark as Hladish proclaims out, “Almost there now” under a blistering bass line and earth-shattering drums that continue until the track fades under haunting gang vocals.
 
The Felix Culpa’s Bury The Axe strictly features music written during the Sever Your Roots writing sessions, but the two releases are completely different beasts. Bury The Axe is its own monster that fans and new listeners will soon fall in love with.
 
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