Holy shit! What rock I have I been hiding under to have totally missed this band? I should go stand in the corner for a day wearing a dunce hat for my tardiness. Well I had actually heard of them but until now I had never heard their music. They were booked to play at Days Of The Doomed II but unfortunately they had to cancel since their main man, Henry Vasquez, also plays the drums for St.Vitus and they booked a tour at the same time as the festival. Regardless, Blood Of the Sun has been around since 2002 and Burning On The Wings Of Desire is their fourth album and what a corker it is!
Full throttle 70's rock with prominent use of the Hammond organ is what is on display here and it's simply fantastic. Blood Of the Sun are not reinventing the wheel but they do take this 70's-tinged music to a whole new level. The two guitars trade great solos back and forth with the Hammond being just as fervent in between. Sporting a distinct 70's sound thankfully the band has gone for a great, crisp and full sound which enhances their music even more. They coudn't have found anyone better-suited producer for this than Tony Reed from Stone Axe and Mos Generator. Apart from catching their awesome sound he helps out on guitar and bass guitar. And best of all, they seem to have such a blast doing this. That alone will lift any band and record and put them ahead of so many other acts. Have fun with your music! Did I tell you waveriders that this is fantastic???
Let It Roll kickstarts this barmstormer of an album and although it's not a cover of UFO's song, it still rocks hard. And it definitely sets the standard throughout because there are no ballads on Burning On The Wings Of Desire, only good old heavy rock. The only time the album "slows" down, in lack of better words, is with the track Brings Me Down. It reminds me of Lynyrd Skynrd or Molly Hatchet in mid-tempo stomping it up real good. Rock Your Station follows and is my favourite song on the record going full blast simply blowing me away. But like on any great record there are no bad songs on Burning On The Wings Of Desire at all, no fillers just great rock songs that rattles these old bones real good! We're treated to a nice surprise with the last song Good And Evil where Henry Vasquez' band mate from St.Vitus, the legendary Scott "Wino" Weinrich handles the lead vocals. He does a great job as always but it's nice to hear him perform outside his usual doom world. That's very contradictory of me to say since I love doom but to hear a singer step outside of his box and sing something else is great!
This is a dangerous album indeed. No, there are no backwards playing satanic messages on it; it doesn't tell you to kill people or start riots. Instead it's lethal because when I play it in my truck going to work and back I just about wreck every time. Once I hit play I headbang like a maniac while playing air drums and air Hammond trying to keep the truck on the road. And that's dangerous if anything folks! If I do contain myself enough to be a somewhat safe driver all I want to do is get a couple of cases of Yuengling, screw work, rock out and party real good! Memories of growing up listening to this type of music while having a great time keeps coming back to me and I simply can't stop playing Burning On The Wings Of Desire.
Burning On The Wings Of Desire is the ultimate album for any occasion. If you want to get a party started this will kick everything into gear perfectly right away. For me personally it's a feel-good record because every time I listen to it I always feel much better, more up-beat. Of course, it will affect each of you waveriders differently but I think I can promise that you all will feel invigorated, happy and ready to take on the world after listening to it. So do yourself a huge favour and purchase it right now...you'll benefit from it!
--Swedebeast
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