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The Relapse Symphony: Born To Burn

Melodic Power Punk Rock Metal

3.5/5.0

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Standby Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 17.06.2015

Hot on the heels of their first long player, Shadows, DC's The Relapse Symphony return with their second album, Born To Burn, less than a year later. Kinda makes you wonder if they didn't have these songs in their back pocket from the last recording session. Maybe the one's that didn't make the cut the first time around.

The Relapse Symphony

Basically, this album is a repeat of the former. Much of what I said about the band and that album in the review of Shadows remains the same. Their music is a hybrid of sorts. Toss together some Eighties glam metal, some early Nineties punk, maybe some power pop, definitely some overly auto-tuned 21st century boy band, a touch of goth, a load of angst, and then play all this heavy and fast with a shitload of huge riffage and blazing guitar solos. It's like power punk glam goth metal. And there's a lot of it, played over and over, sounding the same, in nearly every song.

Now I just need to figure out why I like it. It's probably because of the guitar leads. You just don't expect this from some of these young bands. Yeah, sure, they look like rockers, can jump around the stage, and eat Big Macs and down a fifth of Jack and still stay skinny. But rip off a decent guitar solo? Nope. But TRS does it. And for all the heaviness and briskness, they still remember melody and harmony is the foundation of any real music, rock or metal or otherwise. Ergo, there's some darn catchy stuff here: Comatose, Terror Generation, Die Alone, and Dirty Little Tricks, by example. As I said in that previous review, The Relapse Symphony is this generation's late Eighties Sunset Strip band. What goes around, comes around.

The Relapse Symphony - Born To Burn

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

The Relapse Symphony return with more of their power punk glam goth metal. And there's a lot of it, played over and over, sounding the same, in nearly every song.

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The Powell Payne project, created in 2022 is the collaboration of Mark "Penfold Powell (ex-drummer of Psycho Kiss) and Adam Payne (former vocalist of Airrace). With guitarist Adam Davies and keyboard player ... [ Read More ]