Brainstorm – Downburst

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Metal Blade
Produced by Sascha Paeth & Miro

Andy B. Franck is one of those musicians who does not rest. Last year it was a new Symphorce album plus a handful of dates with both Brainstorm and Symphorce. This year it’s a new Brainstorm album with a European tour and some festivals already booked.

Symphorce darkened their sound for Become Death, and Brainstorm have done something similar. Downburst is comfortably their heaviest album to date. Falling Spiral Down is a typical Brainstorm opener in the sense that it’s full-blooded, high-speed and opens with sound effects which merge into the lead riff and a trademark Franck battlecry, but it is noticeably more aggressive than the last few albums. Then first single Fire Walk With Me is one of their mightiest anthems. Destined to be a live favourite in the same sing-along sense as All Those Words from Liquid Monster, but heavier.

Apart from being slightly heavier, Downburst, for the most part, isn’t drastically different to Liquid Monster. Tracks like Lifeline, Even Higher and Despair To Drown from Liquid Monster and Protect Me From Myself, How Do You Feel and Falling Spiral Down here are entirely interchangeable and none would sound out of place on the other record.

What Downburst lacks is the softer side of Brainstorm. The likes of Heavenly, which appeared half way through the last album, would have served a similar purpose here. End In Sorrow almost manages it, but it’s much darker mood means it doesn’t quite achieve the light-and-shade effect against the other songs that Heavenly did. Especially as the chorus is reasonably heavy itself.

Regular album closer All Alone does offer something different. A grooving main riff and bassline for the heavy parts, with the riff dropping away to softer verses. This is actually one of the album highlights, along with the immense Fire Walk With Me, and might have been good somewhere in the middle to break up the all-out-metal as discussed above.

As other reviews in the metal community have said, Downburst isn’t going to be winning any originality awards, but it does continue the fine pedigree of Brainstorm records, in an arguably slightly more refined, less blunt-force kind of way, certainly without causing any damage to the legacy. Their live set should be flawless.

“ noticeably more aggressive ”

Tracklist: Falling Spiral Down / Fire Walk With Me / Stained With Sin / Redemption In Your Eyes / End In Sorrow / How Do You Feel / Protect Me From Myself / Surrounding Walls / Frozen / All Alone
Special Edition Bonus Tracks: Crawling In Chains / Hold Tight

Photo(s): Alex Kuehr | www.alexkuehr.com

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Power Metal, Brainstorm