I
n December of 2008 we trekked out to see Avenged Sevenfold in a small club and were with opening band Burn Halo. I found them to be dull and comedic- so much so that I took this photo. I found it hilarious. They reminded me of Spinal Tap or some other band of posers. But a picture is a picture and The Magpie is sporting some weird blond hair and a porkpie hat.
So what do I see today? Burn Halo being plugged by Andy Biersack of Black Veil Brides and a free streaming over at AOL. Morbid curiosity got me to listen and my sense of honestly got me to write this.
Burn Halo used these past few years to get their act together. They sound incredible. I had the typical shock and awe of starting in to listen ready to rip it apart only to remove my hands from the keyboard and listen.
The title song "Up From The Ashes", sounds almost Stone Temple Pilots with balls. Vocally wonderful and a great thrashing drum. Wow, what were they doing these few years?
"Rest My Soul", slower and more exact still has a very powerful vocal and your safe strong hard rock back beat. "Alone" and "Shine" also stand out on this very well produced second release. Wow. I am honestly shocked at how much more polished they sound.
Seems they cleaned up as well. A more mature sound and are those jackets and ties?
Burn Halo grew up and got cool. http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds#/20