Burning Skies
Murder By Means of Existance

September 2004
Released: 2004, Lifeforce
Rating: 3.0/5
Reviewer: MetalGeorge

Following in the footsteps of fellow Brit-Core punters Stampin' Ground, Burning Skies delivers the metallic goods with a thuggish intensity. Thats right, I said "thuggish". Burning Skies have a very metal sound, borrowing heavily from both death/thrash metal and 'core stylings, while even busting out the occasional Black Metal blast for good measure.



Most of the tracks here on MURDER BY MEANS OF EXISTANCE, with the exception of minute and a half scorcher "Thrash Gordon", are quite lengthy for metalcore tunes, each containing multiple riffs and tempo changes. The end result of this songwriting process is an increased sense of brutality and technicality not normally found in this sort of "follow the leader" genre.



Musically, all of the chops are here. What stands out most to me, however, is Stu's drumming. Although the drum tracks are admittedly triggered to all hell, the performance unleashed here is still nothing short of astonishing. This is almost Slayer-like precision. Not to be outdone, the Liam and Ben guitar team trade off their share of riff attacks as well; my only beef lie within the vocals. Merv's performance, while adequate, suffer from a bit too much "tough guy" syndrome for me. Ironically enough, this is my same problem with Stampin' Ground, as well. Go figure.



So what do we have here at the end of the day? A rock solid metalcore record that stands shoulders above most pretenders to the throne these days. Odds are that if traditional European metalcore with a brutal edge, a la Hatebreed, Throwdown, or Terror, is your bag, then you'll be in hog heaven here with MURDER BY MEANS OF EXISTANCE.