The first thing that strikes you is the music, great hard rock with melody and class, but it’s the heart and emotion that will stay with you long after the last note rings out. Coming eight years after their debut, ‘The Burning’ is the second album by British Lion and the Steve Harris led quintet have made a record that is at once modern, nostalgic and timeless.
Mixing the classic sounds of phenomenal acts like UFO and Thin Lizzy with the epic grandeur and scope of Harris’s own Iron Maiden, the band have stamped their own identity into the eleven tracks herein and have produced something that stands shoulder to shoulder with those titans.
Now playing more as a band than on the first album, three extensive tours playing the clubs all over Europe has honed them into a sleek and cohesive unit and the results are outstanding. There is a heightened maturity in the writing too as, whilst the first album was a solid and truly excellent slab of hard rock, ‘The Burning’ has given the band a chance to really spread their wings in both the subject matter and the boldness of their ideas. This truly is the sound of a band at ease with themselves.
The album ramps up the heaviness too and the passion that has been committed to the performances is testament to Harris’s production and the fact that the band were able to let loose in the studio, recording the tracks live. Powered by adrenaline fueled bass by Harris and Simon Dawson’s powerful drumming, opener ‘City of Fallen Angels’ tears out from the gate, racing along like a turbocharged supercar as you hold on for dear life, Vocalist Richard Taylor shines too and the layers of harmonies add a little honey to the fire, his expressive voice a study in light and shade.
The first single and album title track follows, it’s frantic riffing imbued with a real crackle and snap as the song takes flight, the galloping bass and twin guitars adding a real touch of Maiden to the dynamics.
‘Father Lucifer’ drips with mysticism and the twin guitars of Dave Hawkins and Grahame Leslie mesh and interweave, each taking turns to slash and jab, each landing a devastating blow.
The musicianship and structure of the tracks is never less than compelling, making this an album that will certainly be played often and enjoyed again and again. Continuing this forward momentum, ‘Elysium’ is a full blown, breathtaking epic that feels like it will burst with the skyscraping heart beating within its core, Taylor giving one of the best vocal performances of his life.
Similarly, in ‘Lightning’, the widescreen scope of the music is an immense canvas that never overwhelms the pinprick sharp humanity at its core, feeling every single moment of emotion in an almost overwhelming wave.
‘Last Chance’ shares some of this huge scope and both ‘Legend’ and ‘Spit Fire’ turns the introspection into an absolutely joyous and defiantly triumphant call to arms, all melody and empowering euphoria. The latter in particularly has a swaggering feel that both Thin Lizzy and Gary Moore captured perfectly and is equal to those artists at their best, a bold statement maybe, but one that will be bourn out upon the very first listen.
‘The Burning’ is a brave album, the nakedness of the feelings so raw that ‘Land of the Perfect People’ exposes an honesty not often seen in rock music as Taylor recounts his childhood experiences in such a way that makes your heart break.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGjI6PORqCA&w=560&h=315]There is nothing hidden here and every line, every word and every syllable has a tremendous weight. There is no self-pity here, just the scars of a man who has been through the some of the worst that life can throw and has emerged the other side, stronger and more determined, his success the ultimate victory.
Piledriving and relentless, live favourite ‘Bible Black’ is a whirling storm of staccato riffs and dramatic rhythm that never forgets the storytelling at its core and the acoustically driven ‘Native Son’ closes the album with a beauty and hope for a future that is bright and full of promise, despite all that life can sometimes throw at us.
Very few albums are this good and the whole ‘difficult second album’ syndrome has been absolutely crushed. Hard work, talent and strength as a unit has brought them thus far and you get the idea that the sky’s the limit for British Lion. ‘The Burning’ is an extraordinary release and one that captures lightning in a bottle, its ability to grasp a primal excitement whilst at the same time moving us to the depths of our very soul. An absolute classic.
Review by Paul Monkhouse for MPM
