Burn Me Wicked was the second and last of IllDisposed's Roadrunner releases and now the second of Massacre record's licensed re-releases. The mid-tempo groove of the Danes' sound on this release feels more stripped back than on their previous excursion 1-800 Vindication – the electronics seem, as a whole, more sparingly used and lower in the mix, with more emphasis on the vocals and guitars. This isn't a bad thing, but for my money I think it does loose a little of the charm displayed on the last album. That said there is still that typical IllDisposed humour at work throughout.
'Shine Crazy' opens things off in a truly relentless style – plenty of brutal riffage and a great harsh vocal performance with only light electronics used to great effect. 'Case of the Late Pig' ups the keyboards for an almost Pitchshifter like intro before the groove laden riffs move to the front line – though not groundbreaking. 'Back To The Street' isn't too dissimilar to 'Shine Crazy' in its guitar and vocal delivery, and is non-the-less a good riff, but again not groundbreaking. 'Our Heroin Recess' picks things up in a similar fashion to 1-800 Vindication's 'Dark', and definitely feels a lot fuller than the last two tracks. 'Throw Your Bolts' continues this feeling with some interesting keyboard work over the fast guitars and blast beats which gives the song an interesting mix of old school and melodic death metal textures. The title track 'Burn Me Wicked' is a high water mark for the album with clean vocals used to great effect in conjunction with the fist-in-the-air chorus to give the track a truly epic feeling. 'Fear The Gates' returns to the tempo and brutality of the album's opening track to deliver another slice of stripped down speed. 'Slave' however returns to that well trodden mid-range groove that IllDisposed have made their own, and breaks up the stomp of the riff by using electronic textures effectively. 'Nothing to Fear... Do It' continues the tempo but with a rockier feel with big clean vocals and near symphonic sounding keyboards over the signature IllDisposed groove. The penultimate track 'The Widow Black' briefly teases that Pitchshifter electronic sound again before slipping it quietly further down the mix and heading back into familiar territory – definitely one of the catchier tracks on the album. The final track 'Illdispunk'd' is exactly what it sounds like – and 80's style thrash/punk crossover that doesn't have an agenda other than to have a little fun. Again, as with the re-release of 1-800 Vindication, there are a couple of bonus live tracks – this time 'Dark' and 'Weak is Your God' – and again they both suffer from less than perfect recording and mixing.
This isn't one of IllDisposed's best albums though production wise it is one of the more well put together. That said there are several great Death Metal tracks included that kind of make it worth while having a look at but it certainly isn't as good as 1-800 Vindication. And again the bonus tracks aren't exactly going to have people clambering for their wallets if they have the original.
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