(Self-released, CD, digital)
“Endure” might be the watchword for 2025 — at least for people experiencing the brunt of the nation’s well-documented slide into authoritarianism. As vulnerable groups’ rights are stripped away, their identities erased, how much can people really take? Burlington synth aficionado Nathan Meunier, who makes music as Burial Woods, ponders this question — and, perhaps, some answers — on their new EP, Endure.
Meunier is an active member of the Vermont Synthesizer Society, whose regular gatherings at Winooski’s Standing Stone Wines bring together a community of niche electronic music enthusiasts. Many of the tenebrous tracks included on Endure first came to life at these events and now are bundled together on a scintillating EP that continues the artist’s ongoing exploration of their queer and nonbinary identities.
The EP is a reminder “that despite the uncertainty and misery in the world, especially right now, that it’s still possible to hold on and find what sparks joy,” Meunier wrote in press materials. Endure is then a kind of Ouroboros, given that making music sparks Meunier’s joy. The questions it raises are answered by its very existence.
The transition from Burial Woods’ first EP, 2023’s Pink Forest, to their second, 2024’s The Collapse, was incredibly dark. Pink Forest‘s synthwave and industrial styles melted and congealed into The Collapse‘s cinematic, amorphous tone poems. Meunier plumbed the depths of their sorrow and rage to resurface with Endure, which snaps Meunier’s sound back into the realm of pop, gloomy as it may be.
Opener “Final Hours” is one of the brightest songs in Burial Woods’ oeuvre — “bright” being a relative term for a project that largely lurks in shadows. Moody and melancholy while still melodically optimistic, the track evokes ’80s British post-punk groups such as Ultravox or Soul Mining-era the The. Meunier sounds comfortable and confident, their butterscotch baritone smoothing out grave passages such as “into the void again” and “drowning in the darkness.”
“Erased” is as tumultuous as its title implies. Serrated bass synth underscores a powerful, snare-heavy beat as synth arpeggios provide a creepy-crawly sense of anxiety. “I can see it breaking through / But we exist in spite of you,” Meunier sings, a pledge to themself and all marginalized people.
Subsequent cuts showcase different shades of Meunier’s tactile production: “Drag Myself Along” buzzes with glowing, chunky synths; “Tethered” is both jagged and pulsating; “For You” crackles with metallic ire; and closer “Beyond the Veil” is an ice-cold declaration of — naturally — endurance.
In a scene largely dominated by rock, funk and folk, Meunier continues to be a stylistic outlier in Burlington music. Endure is a sparkling beacon that broadcasts to all the freaky folks who come out at night.
Endure is available at burialwoods.bandcamp.com and on major streaming services.