Burning Rain has had a 13 year gap in between studio releases, but the endearing partnership between vocalist Keith St. John and guitarist Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake) continues to blossom with each successive outing. The duo has hooked up again; bringing in new bassist Sean McNabb and drummer Matt Starr into the fold to bring us their third disc called Epic Obsession.
The album is loaded with several great cuts, brimming with 70’s blues rock enthusiasm and peppering the core sound with a hard rock flavor carrying over from their previous two releases. The big difference on this release though is a more soulful and bluesy approach to the song writing, adding another dimension to their energetic style of melodic hard rock. Tracks like “Sweet Little Baby Thing” and “Till I Die” really turn up the jets, going for that pure hard sound that never lets up. The next track “Heaven Gets Me By” slows the proceedings down with a bitter sweet ballad about the death of St. John’s Aunt. The composition is quite moving and will stand out for those who dig ballads.
Doug Aldrich is the true star of this outfit though, providing some serious chops on “Pray Out Loud” and “My Lust Your Fate”, putting his stamp on the hard rock template quite effectively. He’s been with Whitesnake since 2002, but it is here on this record where he gets the chance to strut his stuff. His frenetic style truly comes to life on “Ride the Monkey” and having a versatile singer like Keith St. John at the helm to back him up gives Burning Rain that vital one two punch. St. John gets down and dirty on some tracks, but then delivers heartfelt vocals on “Out in the Cold” and “When Can I Believe in Love.” I firmly place him in the Coverdale and Page camp as far as superb vocalists go and his partnership with Aldrich fits like a glove here.
Burning Rain is one of the better hard rock entities to come down the pipe in recent years, creating a unique set-template of bluesy/rock numbers and solid ballads. Epic Obsession might have been 13 years in the making, but it is well worth the wait. There isn’t a single song on this record that will disappoint and here’s hoping the band won’t allow another long gap in between records.
Kenneth Gallant, Editor HMS
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