Artist: Burden of Grief
Title: Follow the Flames
Genre: Thrash Metal
Label: Massacre Records
Release Date: 2nd July 2010
Album Review
Germany’s BURDEN OF GRIEF is quite the melodic thrashers. Drawing on influences that range from DEW SCENTED to SLAYER, they’ve been touring and releasing albums since 1994 invoking a raw, distorted sound that is plenty catchy and intense at the same time. The music is fresh and doesn’t try to use the same riff too often in a track. They’ve just gotten better and better with each release since ‘Haunting Requiems’, and with ‘Follow the Flames’, the band is at the top of their game.
‘Follow the Flames’ is a great mix of old school thrash and great melodic death metal riffs. The music is fast and intense, featuring great guitar work and drums. Tracks such as ‘Follow the Flames’ has a punching chorus and some great tribal drumming while the guitars play off each other in their buzz saw riffs. The vocals sound throaty and raw with a bit of a black metal shriek to them, but they are mostly understandable. ‘Doomed to Fall’ has a bit more buzz to it and focuses more on doom based, chugging chords that borders Metalcore. However, there’s some great melodic solos thrown into the mix. ‘Mirror of Truth’ is a downright speed demon featuring vicious vocal work and an extremely catchy chorus. The guitars in conjunction with the drums are one hell of a heavy metal symphony and create more than enough grooves to get a mosh pit going.
‘Fallen’ is the most melodic track of all, bordering a hard pop rock musical style featuring harsh metal vocals. There even sounds to be some synth involved adding a very 70s feel. If this track seems a bit out of place, then ‘Rise Like A Phoenix’ will kick things back into gear by bringing back BURDEN OF GRIEF’s thrashing sound and still keep up with the melody that fans know and love. Those who are lucky enough to get the second disc will find a host of covered classics, such as SEPULTURA, PANTERA, METALLICA, and IRON MAIDEN. Compared to the originals there isn’t much difference. The sound is basically the same, just a bit thicker, and BURDEN OF GRIEF do the best they can to try to keep their covers as close to the original as possible.
On the METALLICA cover of ‘Four Horsemen’, the vocalist tries to sing instead of his usual roar, and it just doesn’t suit him. Thrash metal vocalists just weren’t really meant to sing… although during THE DOORS cover of ‘Break on through’ the singing doesn’t sound so bad. In contrast, his vocal work in PANTERA’s ‘Mouth for War’ suits the cover perfectly, and the musicianship is second to none. However, for the most part many of the cover tracks sound exactly the same as the original, such as the “Refuse/ Resist” cover by SEPULTURA. It sounds good, but fans will wonder if they’re really listening to BURDEN OF GRIEF at all. The cover just doesn’t have the melodic zest that makes BURDEN OF GRIEF what it is.
Altogether, cover songs included or not, ‘Follow the Flame’ is certainly worth checking out. It is fresh and never boring as the band tries to make each song as original and different as possible. There’s so much crushing melody that fans will get overwhelmed the precision of every note, and the intensity has been set to maximum tension. However, the music of the album feels extremely well contained as each member knows what they are doing and really knows how to deliver good metal. Any fan of melodic death metal or groove tinged thrash will really find this a treat. BURDEN OF GRIEF really earned their wings this time.
Tracklist
Disc 1
01. Ignition (Intro) (00:42)
02. Follow the Flames (4:18)
03. Born In Fire (4:29)
04. The Arms of Death (4:03)
05. Disruption of a Confused Mind (3:49)
06. Doomed To Fall (4:38)
07. No Way out (4:33)
08. Mirror of Truth (4:18)
09. Burning Red Eyes (3:44)
10. Fallen (3:27)
11. Rise Like A Phoenix (4:46)
Disc 2
01. Aces High (Iron Maiden Cover) (4:41)
02. The Four Horsemen (Metallica cover) (5:25)
03. Break On Through (The Doors Cover) (3:25)
04. Mouth for War (Pantera Cover) (3:59)
05. Fool for Loving You (Whitesnake) (4:24)
06. Refuse/ Resist (Sepultura Cover) (3:12)
07. Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be (AC/DC) (4:00)
08. Valhalla (Blind Guardian) (5:00)
Line-up
Mike: vocals
Phillip: guitars
Joe: guitars
Florian: bass
Robb: drums
Website
http://www.myspace.com/burdenofgrief1
Cover Picture
Rating
Sound: 8
Music: 9
Total: 8.5 / 10
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