Album Reviews

Burning Point – Burning Point

I must confess that I was not familiar with Finland’s Burning Point when their new album promo was dropped in my inbox for review. I noticed that the band performed melodic power metal, featured new singer and former Battle Beast vocalist Nitte Valo, and the band included a cover of one of my favorite KISS songs I’ve Had Enough (Into The Fire) from 1984’s Animalize. So I was intrigued enough to give the album a spin.

The self-titled album includes five brand new songs and six Burning Point classics in re-recorded versions. The bands record label AFM Records will also re-issue the first four albums Salvation By Fire (2001), Feeding The Flames“ (2013), Burned Down The Enemy (2007) and Empyre (2009), all scheduled for a July 17th release and about to include numerous bonus tracks.

The music is in your face European style power metal in the tradition of Primal Fear, Accept, and Helloween. Although some of the songs on the self-titled album are re-recordings of previous material, but since it is all new to me so I will treat it as such.

The album starts off with a bang with the fast and heavy In the Shadows. Lead vocalist Nitte Valo may be a female, but she can hold her own against any vocalist male or female with power, grit, and a soaring range that gives the material the right balance of heavy and aggressive as well as catchy and melodic.

All The Madness has a symphonic feel with a mid-tempo pacing and clean guitar over Nitte’s melodic powerful vocals. There is some excellent guitar work from shredders Pekka Kolivuori and Pete Ahonen with some beautifully layered guitar harmonies.

Signs of Danger is a fist-pumping, headbanging power metal anthem with the precision machine gun bass drumming of Jussi Ontero, blazing guitar riffs from the tandem of Kolivuori and Ahonen, the huge vocals of Nitte capped off with a glorious soaring chorus.

Find Your Soul features a gloriously majestic harmony guitar lead intro to a fast and furious power metal anthem. Nitte really shows off her range and power on this one.

Things slow down for the mostly mid-tempo, but still crushingly heavy songs, Heart of Gold and My Darkest Times, which both have a Stratovarius influence. My Darkest Times has a powerful emotional chorus thanks to Nitte’s vocal delivery.

Dawn of the Ancient War has a galloping classic metal feel with chugging guitars and a memorable sing-a-long chorus. The blazing speed metal returns on Into The Fire, one of the fastes tracks on the album that is reminiscent of classic Helloween.

Melodious keys and heavy guitars dominate the Helloween/Stratovarius influenced Queen of Fire while the song Blackened The Sun is chock full of melodic harmony guitars, a driving power metal rhythm and a huge soaring chorus that will be stuck in your head for days after listening!

The album closer is a cover of one of my favorite KISS “deep tracks” from the Animalize album where Burning Point re-imagines one of the heaviest KISS tracks ever recorded as a power metal song. Guess what? It works extremely well! Kudos to the band for choosing to cover such an obscure song to end the album!

It’s obvious that recruiting Nitte as the new lead vocalist was the best move for this band to move to the next level. If you like soaring huge vocals, blistering riffs, chugging rhythms, and powerfully fast double bass drums, than Burning Point is the band for you.

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