Review BURDEN OF GRIEF ‘Destination Dystopia’

It was back in 2011 when a cover version directed me towards a band I haven’t heard of before – Burden Of Grief. The five-piece band has their homebase in Warburg, Germany and it was their bolt and blistering cover of Metallica’s ‘Master Of Puppets’ that made an impression on me. The song was part of the band’s sophomore album ‘On Darker Trails’ and an important step for the band to establish themselves as a solid part of the German metal scene. Five more records followed and since the release of ‘Eye of the Strom’ took place in 2018 it is now time for the first post-pandemic album of the band.

With ‘Destination Dystopia’ the longplayer got a very suitable title and what Burden Of Grief offer is melodic death metal that also faces some thrash metal crosslinks. Supported by two new band members, Dominik Hellmuth (g) and Manuel Lüke (d), Bruden Of Grief don’t waste time. ‘World Under Attack’ is the first sonic blast and comes with a song title that feels very relevant today. After short intro part the song unleashes its full power with the first riff that roars out of the speakers. Heaviness and a good sense for melodies is what the opener reflects, and it doesn’t take long to find a way into this album.

Next is the thundering ‘A Daydream of Sorrow’, a song driven by an angry vibe that hits you right into the face. With a melodic chorus part, the song also offers nice twists and versatility before ‘Exposed to the Dark’ unleashes its brakesRegardless of where you drop the needle, the result is a blasting and untamed melodic death metal track – sometime with a link to the Gothenburg-style, like ‘Fevered Dreams’. The title track comes towards the end of the album and is a five-minute song with freight train power which hands over the baton to the hammering ‘Fall to Oblivion’ before My Suicide’ heralds the end of the album.

‘Destination Dystopia’ is a vigorous and well-crafted album that comes with a sound that is dense and couldn’t be more powerful. This album entertains from start to finish and finds the sweet-spot of melody, heaviness and hash riff power.