In 2009, New Jersey rides again. For anyone following Burnt By The Sun at any juncture of their emergence as leaders of the modern crossover movement, the agonizing wait for new material has always gone hand-in-hand with their intelligent songwriting and hypnotic brutality. Six long years following their highly particular sophomore album “Perfect Is The Enemy Of The Good,” the Jersey veterans return with a decidedly more vengeful and hard-hitting effort this time to unsettle listeners even more than usual. “Heart Of Darkness,” in addition to being one of the finest pieces of work the band has ever laid to tape, also happens to be their widely-publicized swansong. If we are to take Burnt By The Sun’s intentions without a grain of salt, this is to be their final album ever, and they are commemorating this final chapter in their existence with a European tour that will last from October 7th until the 25th. But with a rhythm section as spellbinding as Burnt By The Sun’s, and buzzsaw guitars shearing everything in sight to pieces while maniacal screams make listeners cower in fear, it’s just difficult to believe that there won’t be anymore gas in their tank following the brief support cycle for “Heart Of Darkness.” Come what may, this album along with Coalesce’s “Ox” revives the forward-thinking late-90’s crossover hardcore sound with the same unexpected ferocity as kids felt when the short-lived era was in full-bloom. Burnt By The Sun’s always unpredictable but never imprecise blend of hardcore, thrash, death metal, doom, and rock shines as newly as it did when their landmark 2002 debut full-length “Soundtrack To The Personal Revolution” smashed the underground like a wrecking ball. An underrated New Jersey band that listening to Burnt By The Sun brings to mind, both then and now, is post-Ripping Corpse and long-running crossover death metal act Dim Mak. Nevermind that Burnt By The Sun drummer Dave Witte's former band Human Remains performed locally with both Ripping Corpse and Dim Mak countless times, Mike Olender bears striking resemblance to Dim Mak vocalist Scott Ruth, both in their attacking vocal patterns and unflinching intensity. The band’s lead guitarist Shaune Kelley also joined Metal Blade recording artists Hate Eternal last year, bringing old-school Jersey blood into the veins of one of the leaders of the brutal death movement. On “Heart Of Darkness,” Dave Witte, most popularly of Municipal Waste infamy, in addition to Birds Of Prey, King Generator, Melt Banana, Human Remains, Discordance Axis, and East West Blast Test, is finally relieved of his unrelenting up-tempo thrash duties for a hot minute on Burnt By The Sun’s newest, and in the process strings together a sequence of mean grooves the likes of which fans of his have not heard in years. Frontman Mike Olender is a case all in himself. Not only is the New Jersey hardcore scene riding high this year with the reunions and returns of E-Town Concrete, Agents Of Man, and Ensign, but two other Olender-fronted projects have also popped up from where they were hiding. “Not On My Watch,” the recent self-released EP (although label rumors abound) by legendary crossover band For The Love Of finds Olender roaring and shouting like an uncaged lion, much like he does on Burnt By The Sun’s latest. Olender joined the former Ferret Records artists in 2004 for a live performance at Hellfest and has been the band’s frontman ever since. Also, this past August, Olender took the stage once more with his first band, the beloved Endeavor for a benefit for Happy Days Records owner and scene veteran Rich Cunningham, who is currently battling cancer. Lyrically Olender is as thought provoking than ever on “Heart Of Darkness,” portraying society as one that is marred by oppression and violence and reminding everyone why he also co-hosts the award-winning political podcast Issue Oriented, yet another vehicle for his awareness-raising, socio-political agenda.