Away Team

BURN HALO- Up From the Ashes

Rawkhead Rekords/ Warner Music

Rating: 7 out of 10

Reviewed by: Jay Rybak

Burn Halo first invaded our eardrums with their debut album Outburn back in 2009, and immediately took the radio waves by storm with their single “Dirty Little Girl”.  The aforementioned featured a guest appearance by Avenged Sevenfold’s Synyster Gates; something that, beginning June 28th will be hard to forget….

Up From the Ashes, the band’s sophomore effort, kicks things off with the first single “Tear It Down” before diving head first into the title track; all the while one can’t help but notice the eery compositional similarity to that of A7X.  Not that that’s a bad thing, but it does leave you hoping for a little variety.  Enter “Stranded”, where we are greeted with a welcome change in the form of an ever so slight 80′s sounding chorus.  The retro rewind doesn’t stop there, the next track “Threw It All Away” opens with some killer guitar work by Joey Roxx that had me checking to see if I was listening to a cassette on my Walkman. Even with the change in style on what is perhaps one of the better songs on the album, I still can’t help but think I’m listening to the new A7X.

The theme continues over the next couple of tracks, until suddenly I’m awakened to a Metallica-esque symphony of sorrowful guitar, followed by heavy riffs and double bass drum bringing us to “Dakota”; a track destined to become a fan favorite.  One of the more radio friendly songs on the album follows, “Rest My Soul” is a Nickelback style redemption anthem that is sure to see a few spins on your local radio dial.  The sounds of Gates and Co. fill out the final tracks on the album, ending with “Shine”, in which singer James Hart at times sounds like the love child of Josh Todd (Buckcherry) and David Lee Roth.

Musically, this album is heavier than Lady Gaga’s jockstrap, my only qualm is that Burn Halo seem to be turning influence into identity on this one.  While Up From the Ashes isn’t quite the phoenix that it’s monacre suggests, it still makes a decent addition to your playlist, and if you’re a fan of Avenged Sevenfold this album is a must have.

Up From the Ashes hits stores June 28th, for more info on Burn Halo visit here