With a new line-up, gone are the gimmicks like songs named after Tom Cruise movies, fairy tales, suits and sense of humor. Instead, fronted by former Cassius vocalist Mike Terry, Bury Your Dead come to the fray with a serious, mature, developed and less hardcore release of bruising modern metal. Sort of a cross of Hatebreed — if they didn’t suck — and Sevendust.

To most, the above analogy may mean instant suck, but bare with me here; Bury You Dead is a surprisingly strong album. Chunky, hooky, yet littered with moments of hefty groove — I hesitate to use the word breakdown here — which make for an album you simply didn’t see coming, especially after the burly but derivative Victory debut, Cover Your Tracks.

The transition is mostly cemented by Terry, who has a stern, not-so-hardcore shout and when mixed with his clean croon and the band’s newfound, more rock, less hardcore-based delivery makes for the Sevendust comparison (think Home). Now don’t get me wrong this isn’t quite as radio friendly as some of Sevendust’s material, and there are no ballads. But there are loads of thick, massive moments of stout hardcore-tinged angular metal that will get you inadvertently moving. Bury Your Dead , however, seems a conscious decision to veer away from hardcore. Tracks like opener “Sympathy Orchestra,” “Angel With A Dirty Face,” “Hands to Hide the Shame,” “Wombdisease,” “Fools Gold,” and the catchy, standout closer “Your One” would fair well on any rock radio station, as well as get the pit moving at Ozzfest.

Emboldened by a Jason Suecof production (Trivium, Sanctity, Devildriver, Chimaira, Cannae), which highlights both the band’s previous hardcore hues and the newer more commercial appeal, Bury Your Dead is manly-sounding record that shows a band willing to make a record that might not please the fans but is actually the record they wanted to make.