THE BURNING - review added 5th February 2009
Album Review: Rewakening (2009)
For fans of: death metal... and Lego, mermaids and very long bridges
Danish band The Burning return for their second release. The follow up to 2007's Storm The Walls, Rewakening is stuffed to the rafters with titanic riffs and howling vocals.
Masquerading as a thrashy death metal assault on the senses, the music is heavier than a binge drinking elephant, yet still riotously accessible. The sound is stripped back but deep and full. Amazingly there's only only guitarist on the album. It sounds like they have at least ten.
Vocalist Johnny Haven may have a name like a cartoon character, but he packs a punch. If he was a boxer he'd have an anvil in his glove and a frying pan in his shorts. He isn't up there with the likes of Chuck BIlly and David Vincent for aural violence, but he has our respect all the same.
Rasmus Vinding, Thue Moeller and Toby Hoest do a fine job on guitar, bass and drums respectively. The fretwork is particularly impressive with a brooding tone dominating most songs.
'Evangelical Cannibal' is the best track, although this isn't an album that focuses on individual moments. Rewakening is a very, very heavy journey through the grooves and blasts of demonic rock. The album plays out like a metal opera, with themes and concepts carrying on from one track to the next. Think of the release like The Phantom Of The Opera performed by Satan and his hordes - this is a story told with singing, bold imagery and fire.
Rewakening is a strong release with numerous memorable riffs and broken beats. There are few stand out songs however, which is disappointing regardless of the final result. Fans of that musical void between Slayer and Carcass should love this.
Check out... The start of the title track. Such a phat riff!
Track List:
01. It Came From The North
02. Cloven Hoof
03. Carnivora
04. Eight Legged Omen
05. Repentance (Burned On The Stake)
06. Father They Call Me The Heretic
07. He Who Whispers In The Back Of Us All
08. Evangelical Cannibal
09. Unspeakable
10. Live The Goat (feat. Bo Summer)
11. Rewakening
12. My Apostacy
Label: Massacre Records
Band websites: MySpace
