An Expedition into the Jungle of Music! Complex arrangements, tricky rhythmical shenanigans and progressive song structures meeting with pure heaviness, hymnal choirs or dramatic reduction: Musical corsets are not made for BURDEN OF LIFE! Started as a classic melodeath combo in 2004, the Regensburg-based band since then has evolved to become one of the most exciting progressive metal bands on the German scene: BURDEN OF LIFE have defined their very own, unique style – and are always ready to spring a surprise. The four-piece simply doesn’t accept musical boundaries! They are far too curious. On their fourth studio album “THE MAKESHIFT CONQUEROR” (rel. 03/06/2020), the four mavericks set out to prove that fact anew, presenting themselves in an incredibly versatile fashion once again. At it, parameters such as “fast”, “slow”, “long”, “short”, “heavy”, or “soft” aren’t just carried to extremes. On “THE MAKESHIFT CONQUEROR”, all of these factors are rather strongly, even inextricably interwoven. The result are nine incomparably diverse, and exciting tracks, which are sidestepping and thrilling, while banging and grooving. And which still form a harmonic, coherent oeuvre, on which frantically desperate, blastbeat-filled verses, epical, hopeful choruses, and a stomping, sluggish main riff conflate into a song like “Geistesblitz” (engl. “Brainwave”), while standing unconditionally next to an unblemished piano ballad like “Trust My Own Heart”, and the virtuosic “Anthem Of The Unbeloved”. And with “Goddess Of The River” or “Sealing Our Fate”, the old melodeath roots even flare up here and there. BURDEN OF LIFE leave the old, well-trodden paths, briskly cutting across country, and chopping new trails through the jungle of musical opportunities. Well done: There’s plenty to discover beyond the thicket
