Burning Point: The Blaze

Finnish power metal band Burning Point is back with a new album, their seventh overall, titled The Blaze. It’s the band’s second release since adding vocalist Nitte Valo (ex-Battle Beast) to their ranks, and the first album full of all-new music with this lineup, since 2015’s Burning Point was about half rerecordings.

We got a powerful introduction to the new (and very much improved) Burning Point in 2015, and The Blaze reaffirms the band’s new energy and direction. This is hard-charging, yet still very melodic power metal with a strong traditional heavy metal side. It has a great balance between speedy riffs and memorable melodies, and some wicked solos, and Valo’s very distinct (accented, powerful and kind of raspy) vocals add another dimension to these songs. She’s a singer in the old school metal style, not some dainty “female-fronted metal” waif doing the Nightwish thing. The Blaze sounds a bit like Jutta Weinhold (of Zed Yago) fronting Firewind.

The Blaze is a really solid, really satisfying album. The songs are well-written, the musicianship is tight, and the vocals take the songs to another level. Highlights include opening monster “Master Them All,” the powerful “My Spirit” and “The Lie,” and the closing cover of the old Lee Aaron song “Metal Queen.”

If you loved the direction the band took with Burning Point, you’re going to love The Blaze as well. It’s a very strong traditional/power metal album that fans of bands like Firewind, Battle Beast, Accept, Thunderstone and Zed Yago ought to really enjoy.