Pyromania… No, not the DEF LEPPARD album, but the mania itself. I have a feeling that these Finnish guys here suffer from something like that, with a band name BURNING POINT, an album title "Feeding The Flames", song titles like "Into The Fire" or "Blackened The Sun" and at the beginning of the first song the sound of a match catching fire? Musical pyromania, a new phenomenon!

But seriously, this quartet offers us some excellent Power Metal, which right away does not sound exactly original. And to be honest, even after some rotations it does not all too much, but let's not judge them prematurely, ok? Opener "Into The Fire" offers us some very good melodies and arrangements that do not sound too generic, actually the keyboard work on this one almost reminds me a bit of earlier CHILDREN OF BODOM, also the drum work at the beginning of "Blackened The Sun" does in a way, interesting detail…

BURNING POINT have a very nice drive in their compositions, plus the voice of fronter Pete Ahonen has a good little rough edge to it and on top of that is rather mid pitched as well, fitting the songs very well indeed. He manages to paraphrase the songs, giving them an own identity, which makes BURNING POINT definitely stand out from the masses. Also that they mix some Melodic Metal into their Power Metal, thus standing further apart from the copyclones of the genre, is a big plus in their book.

Apart from the already mentioned opening duo, "I Am The Silent One", the RAINBOW cover "Night Games" or "Feeding The Flames" should be enough to convince you of the fact that BURNING POINT have their much appreciated own touch. And that is at least something in the mass of Power Metal, isn't it? (Online May 13, 2003)