BURNING SHADOWS
“TRUTH IN LEGEND”
Album Review By Iron Mathew

9/10

Burning Shadows are a power metal band from the USA formed in 2000. Releasing E.P.’s in 2002 and 2005, the bands first full length album was released in 2008. Their second album was released in 2012 and the bands third album, ‘Truth In Legend’ was released in 2017.

Burning Shadows have always played an epic and majestic style of power metal and the bands latest offering is no exception. The opening song ‘Day Of Darkness’ is a very heavy way to begin the new album and has influences ranging from the traditional British heavy metal genre right the way through to the thrash metal genre. Soaring vocals and mighty riffs with a pounding rhythm, ‘Day Of Darkness’ is a triumphant opening salvo. With eight songs on offer across nearly one hour in length, there are some long songs on the new album. Picking up the pace and galloping along, ‘Southwind’ will beg the die hard head bangers to head bang furiously as it blazes a fiery trail through the airwaves. The pace gets even quicker as ‘Sworn To Victory’ storms in and rockets off at a high velocity. Influenced heavily by the speed/thrash metal genres, ‘Sworn To Victory’ rattles along with a very heavy rhythm. Throw in a sing a long and anthemic style chorus, and Burning Shadows have delivered a superb song.

Mellow and acoustic fuelled, ‘From The Stars’ rolls in and then with a buzzing guitar style, atmospherically comes to life and turns into a thumping thrashy romp. Packing the proverbial kind of punch that would knock you into next week, ‘From The Stars’ foot stomps its way mercilessly to a conclusion. With a mild throaty rasp, the vocals are powerful, the guitars are crisp, the melodies are catchy and Burning Shadows have found a winning formula. With a touch of the NWOBHM, ‘The Last One To Fall’ is thunderous in its delivery. More mid tempo in pace, the heaviness has increased ten fold, yet the catchiness is still there. Addictive and attractive, Burning Shadows are delivering more than just a power metal album…it is heavy metal with a thrash metal influence. The title song ‘Truth In Legend’ owes a lot of its sound to the classic British heavy metal sound as it thunders on by. Guitars buzz like they just stepped out of the eighties and the vocal delivery is the most aggressive and in your face that you will hear on the album.

Mellowness descends on the album again with the keyboard led ‘The Blessed’. Stretching into power ballad territory, ‘The Blessed’ has a much more soulful vocal performance and a wandering rhythm. Definite swaying is the order of the day here and you may just want to light your lighters and hold them high as ‘The Blessed’ meanders its way to an end. British stalwarts Iron Maiden have made the longer song a staple of their music and in the final song on this album, Burning Shadows deliver a thirteen minute plus epic. ‘Deathstone Rider’ opens with an atmosphere building passage that combines keyboards and guitars to great effect. Two minutes in and the touch paper is lit, with ‘Deathstone Rider’ exploding into life and thundering along at a head bangingly addictive pace. With plenty of breakdowns to enjoy, ‘Deathstone Rider’ has it all…melodic moments, screaming guitar solos and plenty to get your neck in a twist while head banging furiously. A very good end to a good album.

Overall, very heavy and pulsating, this album is stacked with songs packed with thrash, power and speed metal influences.

TRACKLIST

Day Of Darkness
Southwind
Sworn To Victory
From The Stars
The Last One To Fall
Truth In Legend
The Blessed
Deathstone Rider

http://www.facebook.com/bsmetal/

This review is the property of Iron Mathew and Metal Gods TV. It is strictly prohibited to copy any part of this review, unless you have both of the parties’ permission, or are the band/record label/PR company in question. Failure to adhere to these instructions will be considered as Plagiarism and you will be reported to the appropriate authorities.

---