BURNING DEATH – Burning Death

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7.0

• Bands:
  BURNING DEATH
• Duration: 00:28:00
• Available from: 05/12/2025
• Label:

• Caligari Records

Streaming not yet available

Originally from Nashville, but spiritually linked to that cursed Europe which in the 1980s gave birth to the most ferocious and blasphemous thrash metal, Burning Death debut with a self-titled album that leaves no room for doubt about its nature: “Burning Death” is a visceral tribute to the era in which extreme metal was born from fury, not from calculation. The trio, made up of veterans of the Tennessee underground circuit, translates the hatred towards every form of sacredness and the devotion for the most feral roots of the genre into pure sound, returning a work that is as spartan as it is coherent in its destructive vocation.

The references are clear from the first listen, with Kreator from the first two albums and Destruction from the early days at the top of the list, both in terms of riffing and vocal interpretation. Upon closer inspection, clear hints of Slayer from “Show No Mercy” also emerge here and there, but, after all, when you focus bluntly on such a classic imprint, the influences are always more or less the same. Of course, it's not easy to defend a genre like this today, caught between declining giants and young clones often without identity, but Burning Death seem aware of this context and choose to focus everything on conviction, on the solidity of the craft and on a songwriting that, while remaining anchored to classical dictates, manages to move with discreet fluency. Tracks like “Genocidal Litany” and “Vengeance of the Inferno” possess an instinctive energy reminiscent of the early exploits of Mille Petrozza's group; a track like “Cold Bite of Steel”, however, shows a touch more awareness in measuring tempos and dynamics, giving breathing space to a record that would otherwise risk monotony. The strength of the work therefore does not lie in the technical complexity, but in the ability to maintain a constant thread between energy, dynamics and old school faith. In this sense, the listener immediately perceives the intent of the American band: to transmit concrete music, without artifice, and to do so continuously for the entire duration of the album.

As expected, there is no shortage of less incisive moments – a couple of episodes seem to work more on attitude than on actual writing – but the overall brevity of the album (about half an hour) prevents the tension from really dropping. It's an album that suddenly enters, devastates, and retreats leaving only smoke and brimstone in the air. This first full-length by Burning Death therefore stands out above all for its honesty and concreteness: a work that clearly shows the direction and intentions of the band, with a decisive and linear cut and an overall tangible ability to make a minimal approach credible, without ever falling into artifice, too flat homages or stylistic forcing.