Burning Skies

Based in Bristol, England, Burning Skies is among the European bands that has been categorized as deathcore in the 2000s. Deathcore has often been described as a combination of death metal and hardcore, and Burning Skies' extreme, over-the-top vocals owe something to death metal's guttural, deep, demonic-sounding growls as well as metalcore's abrasive, harsh screaming. Arguably, deathcore is part of the European branch of metalcore, and while Burning Skies is not a carbon copy of American metalcore bands, one of their influences (perhaps indirectly rather than directly) is Hatebreed (one of the best and most influential metalcore crews in the United States). The word "extreme" not only describes Burning Skies' vocals. it describes everything about the band. Leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination, the British outfit thrives on sledgehammer ferocity and total sensory assault; their material is blistering, intense, merciless and devoid of subtlety. Part of what makes Burning Skies so unforgiving is their use of density; the Brits go for as much density and thickness as possible, and that gives their recordings a suffocating, highly claustrophobic quality. Density is a main ingredient of Slayer and Carcass (two of the band's other influences) as well as Hatebreed, and it is no less important to the members of Burning Skies, who, in European circles, are known for their aversion to emo, a style of punk-pop that was quite popular in the '90s and early 2000s. In fact, one of their songs is titled "Emo Assassin." Singer/guitarist Liam has been quoted as saying that he isn't worried about Burning Skies offending or alienating emo fans; most emo fans, he reasons, wouldn't appreciate Burning Skies' material anyway. Burning Skies was formed in Bristol in September 2002, when...