Damn... Burning Skies has a ton of grind influence as well as some good old death metal influence to boot. I guess Misery Index and Dying Fetus would be good reference points. Regardless, this is a pleasant enough surprise. The production on Desolation is crisp, clean, and heavy; it definitely gives the band a brutal sound.
Desolation is pretty crazy. Seriously, the drums sound like a damn jackhammer; "RKD" really shows this. "The Sweet Sound of Violence" shows off some of the more hardcore influences the band has, the song even has some shouted, gang back up vocals. Burning Skies sneaks in some melodic guitar runs on "Desolation...(For the Denial of Ignorance)"; and, they give the song a nice depth. The lengthy bellow that starts off "Damaged" is ridiculous. Certain vocals on the album remind me a great deal of Karl Buechner's (of Earth Crisis, Freya, and Path of Resistance) vocal style, right down to some of the vocal cadences. Burning Skies' vocals have a decent range that keeps the sound fresh. The musical arrangements are all over the place and keep things interesting. Take "Fairytale Supremacy" for example. The song goes from blazing speed to a slowed down crawl and back again. There is a crazy double bass roll that closes that track. I mean it, nuts, almost like it doesn't belong, but it works. "Could You Sink Any Lower?" shows even more Earth Crisis influence than earlier; the vocals and even some of the music arrangements definitely point to them as an influence. There is a break in the track where the music and vocals stop completely and some guy says, "Now, if you don't think this song is the greatest song ever, I will fight you. That's no lie." The song immediately kicks back in after he is done speaking. I mean, that is priceless and adds a nice touch.
Burning Skies puts out a decent record with Desolation. After listening to it a couple of times, it sounds like the band took a bit of Earth Crisis hardcore and mixed enough grind and death metal influences to give themselves an interesting sound. I may also just be going partially deaf from how loud I am playing this record.
