“I swear on lives and a God I have no belief in.”
It’s hard to imagine it’s been two years since the last Bury Tomorrow record, a metalcore highlight of mine during its calendar year. Following up on Cannibal, an album that struggled to gain traction during the pandemic, The Seventh Sun reignited a sense of vigour and passion sorely missed in the Bury Tomorrow camp. Now, in 2025, following a rather lengthy rollout phase, the group has made an honest effort to carry forward that momentum in the form of Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience. This record stands well enough on its own within the context of the band’s now sprawling discography, but falls ever so slightly short of the expectations set by the group’s prior two recordings.
“To Dream To Forget” launches the album with immediate impact, yet doesn’t quite manage to fully stick its landing. While this cut undoubtedly has some of Bury Tomorrow’s most fiery guitar work to date, it is unfortunately held back by an underwhelming vocal performance, an element that I had thought reached its peak on the preceding The Seventh Sun. Tom Prendergast’s addition to the lineup sparked mixed reactions among fans following the departure of founding guitarist and clean vocalist Jason Cameron, whose distinctive lower-register vocals were replaced by Prendergast’s more restrained mid-range tone. However, this was an artistic change that resonated personally with me, as I found Prendergast’s style more in line with my own preferences. I expected the novelty to wear off eventually, only perhaps not so soon, as the vocal delivery on this cut doesn’t quite match the ferocity of its instrumental counterparts.
With that said, frontman Daniel Winter-Bates picks up the slack, as he quite frankly sounds better than ever. Lead single and sophomore track “Villain Arc” demonstrates this notion, where he unleashes some of the most hellish and guttural screams that can be heard across the band’s discography. The track also boasts some of the grooviest and most mosh-friendly riffs the album has to offer, accompanied by rhythmic changes to keep things varied in the composition department.
While Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience doesn’t mark a significant evolution in the band’s sound — opting instead to refine their established style — it does introduce a few unique elements that left me slightly puzzled. The final minute of “Wasteland” features touches of lo-fi trap, a choice that feels neither earned nor particularly necessary within the context of the track. “What If I Burn” features a swingy, borderline rap verse that, while not terrible, also manages to feel somewhat jarring. As it proceeds with one of, if not the strongest chorus on the entire record, Prendergast manages to recapture The Seventh Sun’s bottled lightning, if only briefly. Minor differences aside, “What If I Burn” remains a contender for one of the strongest tracks on the album in my eyes, as I’ve always felt more personally drawn to Bury Tomorrow’s moodier and melodic cuts such as The Seventh Sun’s “The Carcass King”, of which “What If I Burn” bears a resemblance to.
The remainder of Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience teeters the line between Cannibal’s long-since established aggression and The Seventh Sun’s more tempered melodic metalcore approach. Songs such as “Forever the Night” and “Waiting” offer solid choruses atop a refined mixture of chuggy and melodic guitar chops, while “Silence Isn’t Helping Us” sports a fantastic and very memorable guitar solo in its latter half. “Found No Throne” dials things back with a vocally driven interlude that continues to explore the more vulnerable side of Bury Tomorrow before heading back into familiar territory with the interestingly titled “Yōkai”. While each track holds its own individually, the album begins to blur together as it progresses. On my first listen, many songs felt difficult to distinguish, with the only true standouts being “What If I Burn” and “Found No Throne,” thanks to their aforementioned dive into the band’s more emotive side that I seem to favour. As a result, I feel Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience is a tad too lengthy for its own good, as it begins to buckle under its weight as it nears its conclusion.
Despite this, “Paradox” closes the album on an absolute high, hitting all the right notes for me. This ultimate finisher pulls together the strongest aspects of the band’s sound into a tight, four-and-a-half-minute closer—long enough to leave an impression, but brief enough to avoid overstaying its welcome. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that the overall impact isn’t quite there this time. Maybe my tastes have shifted away from what Bury Tomorrow have to offer here, or perhaps the highs simply aren’t as high as they once were. Only time and further consecutive listens will tell.
Ultimately, Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience doesn’t quite measure up to its predecessor in several respects. However, it’s far from a weak effort and shouldn’t be overlooked, especially by longtime fans of the band. If you were previously unsure about Tom Prendergast’s vocal style, this record likely won’t change your mind, as it is largely the same without the newcomer novelty. Still, the record manages to hold its own, even if its place in Bury Tomorrow’s timeline feels somewhat unfortunate by comparison.
7/10
Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience releases on May 16th via Music For Nations, and you can pre-order it here.