Buried Realm – Revel in the Divine
Saturday, 1st August 2020
Buried Realm, the one-man band of Josh Dummer, is back for a second serving of melodic death metal with the recently released Embodiment of the Divine. With a slew of high-profile guests, and equally high-flying guitar riffs and melodies, Buried Realm represents the essence of what melodeath is all about and hits it all with style. We fired off some questions to Dummer to get his thoughts on this second release from the band, as well as what he’s been up to recently.
Dead Rhetoric: What have you been up to since The Ichor Carcinoma’s release in 2017?
Josh Dummer: Working on the next album! …mostly, haha.
Dead Rhetoric: Once again, you have a bevy of guests that played a hand in the album. Any fun stories for how you managed to get ahold of them?
Dummer: Not really any crazy stories, most of them I’ve reached through social media. Going back to the first album – the first person I got in touch with was Christopher Amott. We stayed in touch and when he came through Colorado with Dark Tranquillity we hung out, went to lunch, it was super cool. He was the one that put me in touch with Peter Wichers a few years ago. Everything sort of snowballed from there.
Dead Rhetoric: Do you feel that having these guests on the album gives it some extra incentive for someone to check it out?
Dummer: For sure. It’s difficult to stand out and grab someone’s attention with so much music floating around. The guests have definitely help put the project on people’s radar.
Dead Rhetoric: Given that this is your second release now, was there anything you took from the first album as a lesson when starting this one?
Dummer: Biggest take away for me was the production. I wanted to focus more on a better overall mix. I’m stoked with the result of the production. Dan Swanö had a hand in that, too.
Dead Rhetoric: Anything you can mention about the artwork for Embodiment of the Divine?
Dummer: The first song written for the album was “Embodiment of the Divine”. That was around mid 2018. I knew that was going to be the album title so I got in touch with Tony Koehl towards the end of the year (2018). His design was so intricate and detailed, it was really hard to decide where the logo and album title should go! He probably tried 20 variations but none of them looked like “the final product“ to me. I couldn’t tell what was needed, drove me crazy, haha. After getting input from friends and other illustrators, I decided on what it is now, and that was finalized just a few months ago, haha. Long process but I’m really happy with how the cover turned out.
Dead Rhetoric: What do you feel are some of the differences between Embodiment of the Divine and The Ichor Carcinoma?
Dummer: The vibe of the new album is darker. I think listeners will feel that as well. I didn’t intend for it but the album just landed that way. The production is a big one, too. Dan took the STEMs and beefed them up.
Dead Rhetoric: Does continuing to work as a one-man act allow you to fully realize your original visions as the music comes to life?
Dummer: It’s definitely not as tedious as writing music with 4 or 5 other people in a band, haha.
Dead Rhetoric: That said, both albums have been mastered by Dan Swanö – what do you feel he contributes to the final sound of the music?
Dummer: Dan was a big help on both albums. He has a keen ear for mixing and understands what I’m going for. As I mentioned before, on this album he had access to the individual instruments allowing him to dig in a little bit on the mixing side. Turned out great. I look forward to teaming up with him again in the future.
Dead Rhetoric: What does heavy metal music mean to you, personally?
Dummer: It’s a life style, a passion, a way to express yourself. It’s a way to connect with people but also escape. It’s pretty amazing.
Dead Rhetoric: Any recent releases that have really caught your ear?
Dummer: Vredehammer, Testament, Sylosis and Katatonia all put out really rad albums recently.
Dead Rhetoric: Is there anything on the horizon for Buried Realm outside of the upcoming release?
Dummer: Maybe more music!
