Demonstealer/Sahil Makhija is back with his second solo album, This Burden is Mine, piggybacking on Demonic Resurrection’s justly rising status in the metal world. For this album, he has enlisted in-demand drummer George Kollias to aid him in his quest – a journey that seems to transcend any quick and definitive label tags.
This Burden is Mine’s strong suit is the diversity of tracks that you will be exposed to over the album’s almost hour-long runtime. The album opens up with possibly its heaviest number (“How the Mighty Have Fallen”), juggling together blast-heavy death metal riffing and near-monstrous grooves with super melodic and atmospheric sections with clean vocals. Demonstealer’s sung vocals have a true metal feel to them, and they hit the spot during the more mellow sections as well as when things get heavier. The second track, “An Unforgiving Truth” comes out of the gate in a more melodic fashion compared to its predecessor. Clean vocals and a driving melody behind it feel almost rock-ish at times, and the track gradually builds up volume until the second half reaches a death metal climax. This type of unpredictability in the songwriting goes a long ways in terms of keeping the album fresh. Whether it’s the more melodic and slight Katatonia influence of “Frail Fallible,” headbanging thrash of “From Rubble and Ruin,” or gloom of “Where Worlds End,” This Burden of Mine feels like a complete album, but isn’t afraid to move across a variety of sound palettes.
Those looking for melodic, deathly, true, or modern metal will find something to enjoy as they spin This Burden of Mine. Genre-blurring at its best, without sounded trite or forced – this is Demonstealer pouring out some pure emotion and it’s well-worth tagging along for the ride.