I'll admit to never having heard Burden of Grief before this review, and what I heard was completely different to what I was expecting. For those (like myself) who hadn't come across these melo-death loving Germans before, they formed in 1994, with this being their fifth full length release…and I can't help but feel there's a funeral doom band somewhere who'd suit their band name a shitload better.
The band’s sound here is somewhat akin to how Soilwork or In Flames would sound if they owned a pair of testicles between them. There's touches of earlier Carnal Forge or Dew Scented in the riffery at times, but it's mainly the Gothenburg-tinged harmonised solo/chug-chug-fest that takes main stage for the main part of the album. Also, you won't be surprised to hear that vocally it's very much a case of 'one part Tompah, one part Michael Stanne and one part Anders Friden' either. Riff wise, they never really ignite much of an interest for me unfortunately – although it's a lot meatier and heartier than your average commercially edged melo-death band these days, there's a general feeling of treading water throughout this album’s entirety.
I think the best way I can sum up what these guys are aiming for with this album is by dissecting the bonus disc which you can get with the special edition version, which features 8 covers of other bands’ material. We have the expected Iron Maiden and Metallica covers naturally, followed by the groove-ridden Pantera and 'Chaos AD'-era Sepultura covers. Mash all that up with a pinch of the generic, and you get Burden of Grief. If 'Follow the Flames' was released 15 years ago, perhaps it would've been received better to my ears, but for me, this is beyond old hat now. There's just no edge to it. It merely 'exists' in my consciousness; there's no emotional bond to be found.
If you're the sort of chap/chapess that listens to the likes of Soilwork on a daily basis – by all means 'Follow the (In) Flames', 'Follow the Arch Enemy'... Jesus – just follow any of the modern “coffee table” melo-death bands you can think of – and you'd never really have the need to follow Burden of Grief again. A total indifference-fest!
http://www.myspace.com/burdenofgrief1
