BURNING SKIES „Murder by Means of Existence”

Genre: Deathcore/Metalcore
www.burningskies.co.uk

With the defection of ‘Cataract’ and ‘Heaven Shall Burn’ to Metal Blade and Century Media respectively, Germany’s Lifeforce label has been quick to shore up some decent replacements. Lifeforce are one of Europe’s leading Metal-core labels and have been the frontrunners in finding and signing new acts to their roster. Metal Blade and Century Media have obviously jumped on the bandwagon in light of the success of ‘Killswitch Engage/Unearth’ – anything that reeks of their formula is being snapped up. Hell, Roadrunner have even gone and signed Germany’s ‘Caliban’.

Cataract and HSB may have gone with Lifeforce’s blessing, but you can be certain that their roster still splits heads! Germany’s ‘Deadsoil’ is a new act that will cause a stir, as will the UK’s ‘Burning Skies’. This debut full length is a follow up to their ‘Premonitions of things to come’ demo released in January 2003. The ferocious quality of ‘Murder By Means of Existence’ proves just what a prophetic title that demo turned out to be. Taking their cues from acts such as Stampin Ground and Hatebreed and blending it with a brutal ‘death-thrash’ sound (think At the Gates meets The Haunted meets Slayer), Burning Skies are no pussies. These guys are fucking heavy as lead punters.

As a defining sound, the Metalcore tag needs to be taken rather loosely when taking about Burning Skies. There is more a ‘death-core’ style – total fucking riff shredding aggression and scathing vocal attacks litter this album. You won’t find any ‘clean’ melodic choruses on this one folks – Burning Skies literally despise everything about it. Fans of KSWE and the like will find similarities in the riff quotient and the overtly metallic approach employed by Burning Skies however, if you want catchy sing a long choruses, you won’t find your desires accommodated here. Burning Skies disdain for anything remotely ‘catchy’ is forcefully implied by naming one of their tracks ‘Emo Assassination’. It can’t be anymore blunt! Add others like ‘Thrash Gordon’ and ‘Narcoleptic Suicide Attempt’ and you can see that the ballpark that Burning Skies play in is a dangerous one.

‘Murder By Means of Existence’ is one of the more brutal Metalcore/Deathcore albums that I have heard in quite some time. It has no interest in being anything else. The whole idea of this album is to lay everything in its path to waste. As a live prospect, these guys must be fucking awesome – the energy and aggression that their music displays is spectacular. It lacks a little in variation and any sort of breathing space, but that isn’t the point. This is all about one word – brutality. I shudder to think of the damage that will occur in the pit during a Burning Skies gig. Limbs will snap!!

I like this album because it represents a band that is hell bent on rejecting the current ‘commercial/marketable’ angle of Metalcore. ‘MBMOE’ flies directly in the face of that. Perhaps the best thing about BS is that while they embrace the Hardcore/Metalcore aesthetics, they place a major emphasis on the ‘METAL’ – the ‘metallic’ edge that this displays is killer – the dual guitar attack of Liam and Ben allows for some major riffage to be deal out. The high quality production on emphasizes this further.

For me, Burning Skies have literally come out of nowhere. And what an impact they make. If you are a fan of the Metalcore sound, but maybe just a little jaded by its current direction, Burning Skies will re-ignite your faith in the sound. I still hold Heaven Shall Burn in higher regard, but with the sole intention of crushing your skinny ass to dust, ‘Burning Skies’ are nothing short of brutal and scathing in every sense. Four word review: HEAVY AS A MOTHERFUCKER!!!

note: 8.5/10

Tracklist

1. Intro
2. Murder By Means of Existence
3. Individual Hate Complex
4. Narcoleptic Suicide Attempt
5. Forever Endeavour
6. Emo Assassination
7. Thrash Gordon
8. Erase the Decay
9. Instrumental
10. Hate Remains
11. Symptoms of Perversion
12. Preaching to the Silent