Burden Of Grief - Death End Road
Remedy Records
Melodic Death Metal
12 songs (52:31)
Release year: 2007
Burden Of Grief, Remedy
Reviewed by Thomas
Chugga-chugga riffs: Check
Melodic breakdowns: Check
Totally uninspired leads: Check
Harsh vocals: Check
Uncreative drumming and blast-beats: Check
“Violent” lyrics: Check

You’re right. It’s another melo-we’ve-heard-it-all-before-death. Burden of Grief is another Gothenburg-influenced melodic death metal band hailing from Germany. This is their fourth full-length Death End Road and was released last year. As you’ve probably guessed by now, these guys play a mix of Dark Tranquility, At The Gates, and In Flames (without the girly clean vocals, mind). They bring absolutely nothing new to the already dying scene as previously described, and although their songs are pretty stellar, they never really grab you as anything in particular. Burden of Grief tries and tries without really succeeding in what they’re aiming at. The songs lack the engaging melodies of the Colony-era In Flames and the short but pleasing amount of anger the melodic death metal elders such as At The Gates. Mike Huhman’s vocal work is probably the highlight here though, as he does a pretty solid job at the mic. His hoarse screaming is the only thing keeping my mind from wandering off into a field dominated by 22 men in red and blue on a green pitch, and then one of the blue guys slip, and the red ones are screaming in sheer joy… Wait, what?

There you have it all on paper. This is nothing to write home about, at least not if you’re expecting something new. However, if you’re a fan of melodic death metal in general, there are of course chances that you’ll enjoy this much more than I do. This is probably not a bad place to start if you’re new to the scene, and are looking to get into somewhat “harsher” material. Then again, what’s the point when you have earlier bands that released material packed with much more quality. I haven’t heard anything of their earlier material, but if this is supposed to be their best one to date, and they’ve evolved in this direction from the start, they should really try to explore other paths and include elements from different places in the metal world. You won’t get far with a standard melodic death metal formula nowadays. You’ll just end up drowning in the already overflowing and ever-growing pool of bands that have already failed trying to re-create the glorious 90’s.

Killing Songs :
All or nothing!
Thomas quoted 69 / 100
Other albums by Burden Of Grief that we have reviewed:
Burden Of Grief - Follow the Flames reviewed by Vrechek and quoted 50 / 100
Burden Of Grief - On Darker Trails reviewed by Danny and quoted 72 / 100
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