The Burning - Hail the Horde

The first thing that hits you with the first few songs from “Hail the Horde” is how close to The Haunted and At the Gates Denmark’s The Burning sound like these days.
That was clearly a surprise for me considering the Danes were always massively influenced by the work of Pantera, and although this newest record is still indebted to the US thrashers, just clap your ears to “The Nihilist Life” and tell if that doesn’t sound slightly like “Mouth for War”, there’s a Swedish influence reminiscent of Gothenburg’s finest overbearing these new songs.
Perhaps it was the new guitarist Alex Kjeldsen formerly of Dawn of Demise that brought in a whole new array of influences as the main riffs to songs like “Godless” and “Flames Be Your Friend” sound like they could’ve come from the creative minds of Patrik Jensen and Anders Björler. Even though The Burning have morphed into a slightly more interesting proposition, trading those linear, straightforward riffs and shout-along chorus for a more evolved and refined riffage, they still lack some substance and genius to warrant a privileged place in our stereos. (5/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/theburningdk
Label info: www.massacre-records.com
For fans of: The Haunted, At the Gates, Pantera