From PowerofMetal.dk:
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Musically, Burning Shadows are heavily influenced by Iced Earth, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, and they play their instruments extremely well.
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“Into the Primordial” abuses the word “epic.” All of the 10 tracks run anywhere from 5 to almost 9 minutes, except for the instrumental “Evenfall,” which is 2:40.
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Track 8, “Sarnath,” gets a definitive “horns up” for its awesomeness at the 5:42 mark.
Read the entire review here.
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Photos by Karl Hiller of www.KarlsMetal.com
Show Review by Karl Hiller of www.KarlsMetal.com
The concert studio was a small room, maybe 18 feet by 18 and the walls were littered with band stickers and graffiti as well as the hallways leading up to it which gave it a musical anarchist’s decor. And it smelled like a bar with all the beer people brought. If you didn’t have any, they were happy to share.
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Last but not least, was Burning Shadows. A band I had seen only once before, but never the less drew me 130 miles to see again. The first time I had heard them live, the sound system wasn’t quite right, unfortunately, but they were crisp and clear at the WMUC studio. Lead guitarist Greg Jones had been handling lead vocals and is featured on their album “Into the Primordial” While his vocals are adequate, he must have realised the band’s awesome sound needed something more. That they have found, in new lead vocalist Tom Davy who made his Burning Shadows debut performance at this show. His voice is melodic, powerful, and operatic in style. His personal flare and gesturing made a strong visual impression as well. And, thanks to Tom, KarlsMetal.com got its first radio ad. After Greg recognised me for having traveled so far to see them, Tom said, “and you have a website” as he handed the mike over to me to give a plug on air. Their songwriting is strong and original. The music is powerful in scope and diverse in character. Their showmanship is good, Tim Regan on rhythm guitar and Aaron El-Zeftawy on bass are especially lively performers. Torin Blatt on the drum set has focus and fun beating out the beats. The band opened with their seminal track “Second Son” and also premiered a new song which was as yet unnamed, but was, as I heard one fan describe it, in a word “epic”. An EP with new material is forthcoming.
Epic hails to Karl!
Karl from Karl’s Metal New Jersey posted a review and some pictures from Iron & Steel Fest. About BURNING SHADOWS, he says:
Burning Shadows caught my ear and I’m digging their album [Into the Primordial].
Read the rest of the review here. There is a photo of us here.
Danger and Dissonance posted this review of Into the Primordial:
For those who enjoy metal, but have never given thought to power metal before, stop and take a look at this album. Unlike so many bands in the power metal genre Burning Shadows brings much new to the table. Each member does his own thing to create a unique sound. In “New Dawn Arise” the rhythm section brings some interesting surprises. Bassist Aaron El-Zeftawy plays an amazing, complimentary, and catchy bass fill in the beginning and end of the song, while drummer David “Warlord” Spencer plays a unique and unexpected drum beat pattern during the chorus. Guitarist Tim Regan and guitarist/vocalist Greg Jones rhythm and lead parts are just full of clarity and expression. All throughout the cd instances of musical brilliance are heard. Jones’ departure from typical power metal high pitched vocals works very well. His vocals pour out feeling and bring power metal down to a level that is both realistic and not over the top which can reach those who are not typical metal listeners. This way of singing stands out from all of the other cookie cutter male singers with high pitched vocal tones (most guys do not have a natural high pitched voice, their vocal center is in the middle). Samath has a great intro riff that automatically catches the listeners attention and ranks up there with some of the best classic metal riffs. In fact all of the riffs on this cd show pure musicianship. Definitely a band to watch out for.
Jaxx posted this review about the Testament show on June 3, 2005.
About BURNING SHADOWS, they say:
Burning Shadows are another in a long line of talented local acts. From Silver Spring, MD, this young quartet play melodic power metal ala Iron Maiden/Iced Earth. They put on a lively set in front of an already large audience. Songs played included Supernatural Warfare, Marching To Victory [an alternate version of The Human In Me -ed.] and the thrashy instrumental, Wings Over Isengard [sic].
Greg Jones handled lead guitar and vocals. His crystal clear speaking voice between songs made it a lot easier to take notes. Burning Shadows has two releases out – “The Darkest Winter” and “Amongst The Dying Waves” – both EP’s.
There are also several pictures of us in the review.
Behind The Veil (defunct) wrote:
This is the first release that I am reviewing for the new year, 2003. Actually BURNING SHADOWS’ EP is the first cd I listen to, the first day of the new year and is a very good way to welcome the metallic 2003. They play U.S. power/speed metal and I must admit that they do an excellent work. When I listened to them, the first band they brought to my mind was ICED EARTH (and I mean the good old Iced Earth of the first 4 albums and not the average band they became with their last 2 cds), SANCTUARY (listen to “The Darkest Winter” song) and DESTINY’S END. Also the singer will bring to your mind Matt Barlow. All the songs of this EP are very good, but the one that made me break my neck was the song “Forest Of The Dead” and I can foretell that it will continue to do so to me in the future as well. Friends of quality power metal buy this EP. Labels, just sign them. WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER HELLOWEEN CLONE. I am glad that there still exist guys in the U.S. that keep wielding the blade of classic heavy metal, without any compromises.
8.5/10
P.S.I will wait anxiously for their full length release. They convinced me that the future belongs to them.
Nick “William_Kidd” Parastatidis
Vates Noctis (defunct) writes:
Kaum zu glauben… diese 4 Jungs aus USA sind so alt wie ich, so um die 18 Jahre und gehen auf ihrer Debut-EP “The Darkest Winter” dermaßen routiniert und professionell zu Werke, dass so manchem Routinier die Kinnlade runterklappen wird! Stilistisch bewegt man sich zwischen Bands wie IRON MAIDEN, NEVERMORE, DREAM THEATER oder sowas, sozusagen progressiver Power Metal. Was mich sofort an dieser Scheibe fasziniert, ist das technische, groovige Drumming von Vincent, der übrigens aus Jazz-Kreisen kommt. Bestes Beispiel dafür ist der Opener “Force of Fire”! Ansonsten werden ebenfalls überdurchschnittliche Leistungen vollbracht. Sänger und Bassist Brian verfügt über ein durchaus hörenswertes Organ, was jeder Zeit durch Präzision und Ausdruckskraft auffällt. Gitarrenmäßig hätten mehr Soli sicher nicht geschadet, ansonsten fallen sie nicht sonderlich überragend, aber dennoch gut aus. Keys kommen nur in einem Song vor, obwohl sie dem einen oder anderen Song sicher nicht geschadet hätten! Der Sound wirkt natürlich und kommt mit wenig Effekten aus, allein die Vocals finde ich ein wenig laut! Fazit: Burning Shadows haben zwar nicht gerade den Metal des 21. Jahrhunderts revolutioniert, dennoch wird solide Koste mit einigen Überraschungen geboten, die besonders für Fans der oben aufgeführten, vergleichbaren Bands durchaus interessant sein könnte! Anspieltipp: “Whisper Suffering”, Burning Shadows in all ihrer Pracht!
(8/10P.)
From Strutter Magazine:
Although much has been said that real metal is dead in the USA, here and there in the States great new melodic metal bands pop up. For example, this BURNING SHADOWS out of Rockville, MD. They play awesome melodic US Power/Prog Metal in the style of TWISTED TOWER DIRE, STEEL PROPHET, ICED EARTH, ZANDELLE, SPIRIT WEB, SYRIS… There are 5 songs on their CD ‘The Darkest Winter’, and only opener “Force of Fire” is just nice uptempo metal, because the rest is sensational melodic metal. The band has a very good melodic lead singer called Brian Knesel, who also plays bass. Now let’s talk about the sensational songs. “The Darkest Winter” is very good high-class progressive metal. Up next is the lovely uptempo melodic metal piece “The Human In Me” which sounds like a mix between TWISTED TOWER DIRE and early STEEL PROPHET. More True Metal can be heard in “Forest of the Dead”. The best song however is closing track “Whisper Suffering”, a 8-minutes counting epic. This is quite superb Progressive Metal with a nice Keyboard intro. So, basically BURNING SHADOWS is one of the new generation of US metal bands playing classic 80s melodic metal. Highly recommended to fans of mentioned bands.
Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)
