By: Tordah

Posted: Feb 20, 2007

By looking at the album cover and reading the name of the band and album one might mistake this for a thrash metal release but that's not the case. Musically Burning Point lies somewhere between power metal giants Gamma Ray and fellow countrymen Thunderstone. The songs here are mostly mid-tempo and focus on having strong and catchy choruses that will have you humming along long after you've stopped listening to them. While I don't remember much from Burning Point's previous album I found this one to be an enjoyable experience although it's been done to death before.

Starting off the album is the fast-paced 'Parasite' which immediately brings my mind to Gamma Ray. It has almost all the essential ingredients that a good album opener should have: great riffs and leads, pummelling double-bass drumming and a somewhat catchy chorus. I say somewhat because it sounds a bit generic and doesn't have the desired impact that a great chorus should have. The following songs turn down the tempo a notch and have more of a heavy metal feel to them. At this point I'm already starting to get irritated by the incredibly predictable song-structures. I'm sure Burning Point would like to write songs that only contain choruses if they could. Now it just feels like the verses and bridges are there to fill the void between the next chorus, save for the occasional guitar-solos here and there. They do absolutely nothing for me and the whole package just screams generic. Then after the decent ballad 'From The Beginning Of It All' we get the amazingly catchy 'Icebound' which is among the best songs of the album. This track has some really cool and interesting melodies that are impossible to get out of your head once you've heard the track a few times. This track also feels like their own and not just a rehash of other bands material. Other tracks that reach the same high quality are 'Eye For An Eye', 'Against The Madness Of Time' and the title track. These tracks also have contagious choruses that will haunt your mind long after you've turned off your speakers. 'Eye For An Eye' especially will stick with you like super-glue. It also has a neat breakdown section in the middle of the song that I hadn't expected. The other songs here are easily forgettable and feel terribly unoriginal. It's clear that the band's musical visions are not to create something original but that doesn't justify the fact that I get bored when I listen to their material. There's nothing wrong with the musical abilities of Burning Point. Every band-member knows their place and does a solid job here. The production is big and spacey but doesn't provide enough power or crunch to do the songs justice if you ask me. This type of production would be great if this was a hard rock album – but this is metal we're talking about.
 
Overall this is an enjoyable but very generic power metal album. The riffs are mostly good but nothing particularly new or awe-inspiring. "Burned Down The Enemy" contains a few ridiculously catchy tracks and a lot of forgettable ones. When I listen to songs like 'Deceiver' and 'Hell And Back' I get the feeling that I've heard it all before… on this very album! That's definitely not a good sign if you ask me. At least I found amusement in that song, since it sounds like the vocalist is singing about "the seagull" instead of "deceiver", but that's another story. If you are a big power metal fan you'll probably like this album even though it won't be one you listen to very often.

Rating: 6/10

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