From the opening note to the final moments, Burn The Ballroom’s latest EP Dark Stars & Velvet Skies managed to evoke every positive emotion possible out of us. Please keep reading for our full in-depth analysis on the record, as well as a background on this band that’s making big waves.

Initially formed in Washington DC by singer and guitarist Adriel Genet, Burn The Ballroom have brought on Jack Ivins (drums), Tuomas Easton (keytar), and Josh Finks (bassist) to complete the band’s final lineup. Crafting up a wide variety of musical genres across their newest EP Dark Stars & Velvet Skies, this is legitimately one of the most instant grabbing records we’ve heard in such a long time. Let us kick things off by letting you know we are highly recommending a dive in.

Reminiscent of Muse, Linkin Park, and so many other notable alternative rock acts, Burn The Ballroom are continuing to pave a lane of their own as they continue to release these grand and anthemic records. Gaining notoriety since around 2014, every single release up until now has been a step in the right direction, but we do feel that this EP has some of their best work yet. Considering that this style of music is the type we listen to in our casual listening time, we definitely “judged” a bit harder, but they still blew out every expectation.

“The Long Way Down” is easily one of the most jaw dropping singles that they could’ve chosen to open things up with. Thankfully though, it didn’t peak at the beginning, and each subsequent track matched the energy and vibrato that we had hoped it would. Instrumentally, things stayed quite vibrant as well and didn’t veer off onto the heavy side too much, rather kept things balanced in a way that would be approachable to most general rock and roll listeners.

What we will say is that Adriel Genet has produced one of his best vocal performances yet; it was astonishing to realize that a human being was capable of hitting such notes. To be totally honest, there isn’t a dull moment in the 26 minutes of run time that it lasted and it truly kept us wanting more. We suppose that means we’ll just have to keep replaying it and attempting to chase that first listen high.

Now’s about the time we’re going to point you in the direction of the links below so that you can make your day better by listening and following along for more. Even better, we’ve linked their music video for “Still” down there too!

Listen to Dark Stars & Velvet Skies

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Burn The Ballroom capture greatness on EP, "Dark Stars & Velvet Skies"