Review Summary: Standard metalcore with an inflection of interesting Eastern European folk, which works out beautifully albeit not flawlessly.
Niburta is a folk metal band hailing from Budapest, Hungary. Despite being a folk band a myriad of sounds are integrated into their music, carving them an interesting niche sound. That particularly is the highlight of their debut "Screams from the East". There are oriental bagpipes and authentic ethnic sounds that are spread across the album, dragging you straight into the heart of ancient Eastern Europe. Some of the greatest tracks are led by bagpipes and flutes, such as "Balkanic Heart". The ethnic background gives the entire album the flair it would otherwise lack.
As for everything else things tend to fall a bit flat. There isn't a large amount of diversity between tracks aside from the ethnic instruments, which kind of wear their appeal after 3-4 listens. Even the best tracks such as "Dance of Satyrs" and the intro "The Descent" have incredibly generic uninspired chug-chug riffs, and the drumming fails to stand out even at any point. This isn't too noticeable initially but over time it begins to put a major damper over the album. There is some attempt at variety during the track "Masala", which starts with a pretty solid rock and roll riff, and soon transitions into spunky acoustics which barge in towards the end and are interrupted by death metal pig squeals, making it such a cringe worthy awkward blend of sounds that it almost ruins the track.
As for the vocals, the shouts and growls don't stand out immensely, but at least here Niburta manages to construct some incredibly catchy choruses and rhythms, especially on tracks like "Dance of Satyrs" (which is a cover of a Daemonia Nymphe song, by the way), and "Rege". Also the quality of vocals becomes greatly vamped up when the clean vocals shine through, because they add a sweet sense of balancing melody and integrate with the ethnic instruments incredibly well.
Niburta certainly has a flawed first release, however it is also very promising. They show they are adept at originality, and at using their local folk upbringings to create a truly original release, they simply need to improve by adding more diversity to the base of their music- making less bland riffs, and giving the drums a much needed chance to showcase much of anything. However, for now, you can chant along with some well made ethnic Hungarian metal.
