After a busy 2019/early 2020, musician Charles Caswell and his wife Kaylie have finally released their project Berried Alive’s new album, Fuego. The virtuoso pulls no punches in this devastating, brutal offering, packed to the brim with a unique mesh of deathcore, trap, and more; what makes the effort stand out so much is the immaculate production that incorporates a wide variety of killswitches, pedal boards, effects, etc. Simply-put, there’s nothing out there like it.
Much like 2018’s remarkable Bearies Alive, Fuego is an LP without a dull moment. Highlights stem from the vicious “Sorry Guys” (the only track title that isn’t a pun,) “Planet of the Grapes,” and “Drive by Fruiting.” A collaboration with Lucas Mann was inevitable; they’ve worked together on “DADS” as well as Charles getting a spot on Rings of Saturn’s “Pustules” last year.
The profound nature of Berried Alive is courtesy of their desire to shy away from genre conventions and craft a signature sound. This is thanks to vocal samples, an abundance of production integration, riffs that only the elite can hope to replicate, the concurrent release of every album instrumentally… the list goes on, and is expanded by Fuego.
Take just the first seven seconds of the record. Charles mashes his killswitch to create an otherworldly sound sure to spawn a lot of double-takes. He then proceeds to rap in “The Pun-Isher,” deliver a heartfelt change-of-pace in “The Grape Depression,” and deceive the listener in “Legendberry” with a purposefully-garbled compression to present an artificial heaviness like no other producer dares to explore.
It goes without saying that metal fans looking for something different and experimental could find their new favorite band in Berried Alive. Now at four albums and tons of separate singles, the discography of Charles and Kaylie Caswell is expansive and worth a look through. Spin Fuego today and prepare for some berry intense tunes.
