Old Spirit – Burning in Heaven

Releasedate: 24-02-2023
Label: Bright as Night Records

Old Spirit is a one-man band, formed by Jason Hartman (Vanishing Kids, Jex Thoth). He describes Old Spirit as an old school weirdo metal project. The self-titled debut EP was released last year and is back with the full-length album “Burning in Heaven”.

As with the debut EP “Old Spirit”, “Burning in Heaven” delivers us a range of different styles with influences from psychedelic rock to death metal. As a matter of fact, I see “Burning in Heaven” as a continuation of the debut EP musically! Those who liked the debut EP will definitely like this album in an instant. The fuzzy guitars combined with Jason Hartman’s vocals (Mercyful Fate will come to the listeners’ mind here in an instant!) form the highlight of the album.

Some songs that stand out are “When The Spirit Slips Away“, “Angel Blood” and “In Dismay”. These songs have some nice twists and caught my attention a bit more than the others. “When the Spirit Slips Away” especially made me think of soundtrack music to cyberpunk movies whereas “In Dismay” represents the album’s essence perfectly.

Despite some highlights, I have to admit that “Burning in Heaven” did not blow me away as much as the debut EP, mainly because of the fact that it did not bring anything new to the table. Surely noone is expecting a revolution or a new genre but I personally expected more from this full-length. In addition, the sound was a bit all over the place so a bit more structure and a better production would make the future releases even more perfect. We know that J. Hartman is full of weird and crazy ideas so I am curious about future releases and what he will deliver.

Line up:

• Jason Hartman: All instruments, vocals, programming, engineering, producing and mixing

Tracklist

1. Burning in Heaven
2. Dim Aura
3. Ash
4. Fallacy
5. When the Spirit Slips Away
6. Angel Blood
7. Bleak Chapel
8. In Dismay

Links:

Bandcamp
Facebook