German thrash/death veterans Burden Of Grief are celebrating their 20th anniversary and will release their new album, Unchained, via Massacre Records on July 18th. Below you can read a track-by-track description of the songs on the album from guitarist Philipp Hanfland.

The cover art for Unchained was created by Gustavo Sazes - who has worked with bands such as Legion Of The Damned, Elysion, Arch Enemy and Sonic Syndicate. The mix and mastering was done by Dan Swanö.

Unchained tracklisting:

“Awaken The Nightmare”
“Unchained”
“Sounds Of Desperation”
“Operation Eagle Eye”
“Fearless Heart”
“The Final Chapter”
“Your Heaven Is Gone”
“Turmoil To The Void”
“Black Evolution 666”

Guitarist Philipp Hanfland describes the track:

“Awaken The Nightmare" - "It was clear that this song will be the album's opener due to its concise first few seconds. Out of all songs off the album, "Awaken The Nightmare" is the only song I'm not able to put a label on, musically speaking. I'm also not able to compare it to other bands, which isn't a bad thing at all in the end, don't you think?"

“Unchained" - "One of the first songs we've written for the album and one of the strong ones as well. That's why we decided pretty early that this one's going to be the title track. Our drummer Robb came up with the song's basic structure and Joe refined the riffs. A pretty unusual way to write a song, I know, but it wasn't the first time we did it this way."

“Sounds Of Desperation" - "The last song we wrote for the album. It’s imple and catchy, but also very effective. We've used a Hammond organ in the solo parts, as well as in other parts. Once again pretty unusual for a band like us. But we already used the Hammond organ on our last album and we think it's really cool."

“Operation Eagle Eye" - "It took us really long to finish this song. I think every band has already been in a similar situation. The main structure is finished, but something's missing. For us, it was a thrilling refrain. At the end of our songwriting process, Joe came up with the song's refrain and suddenly everything has come full circle. By the way, this song's about the NSA..."

“Fearless Heart" - "An unusual song, but it's making a difference. The main idea came once again from our drummer Robb, who suggested the cowbell part. At first we weren't sure if it would suit us. But I had a lot of groovy rock riffs in mind and so we made a song that turned out amazing, if you ask me."

“The Final Chapter" - "Another song written by Joe, whose songwriting process differs from mine. My songs are usually more straight and catchier, whereas his songs are more multi-layered and complex. Both is interesting and it’s one of the reasons for our album's musical variety. "The Final Chapter" is one of the best songs on Unchained, if you ask me."

“Your Heaven Is Gone" - "One of the album's oldest songs. Less melodies, but with amazing thrash metal and a lot of cool and groovy parts. We've already played this song live at a couple of gigs and the crowd enjoyed it a lot, so it will continue to be part of our live set list."

“Turmoil To The Void" - "Another song written by Joe, which is pretty complex and multi-layered. I don't think that we'll play this song live, because of the various types of guitars that have been used in the studio. It's ok that we probably won't add it to our set list, because this way you can explore the song's complexity at home."

“Black Evolution 666" - "Another catchy song that would be a great addition to the set list. Unfortunately, we've once again used various types of guitars here that would be missing live. That's why we haven't decided yet, if we're going to play a lean version of it live or not."

“Another Way To Die" (Bonus) - "The oldest song on the album and also an exceptional one. It's a mid-tempo track with mean lyrics. Similar to our older songs "Smashed To Pieces", "Reborn", "The Nightmare Within", etc., it's a song about a psychopath killing people in a disturbing way. This song's part of the album's limited digipak edition."

“Neon Knights“ (Bonus) - "Actually, we didn't want to record a cover version for "Unchained", because we already recorded a bonus disc with 8 cover songs for our previous album "Follow The Flames. But shortly before we've entered the studio, our label asked us if we'd be interested to contribute a song to a special release. That's why we decided to record this song as a cover, because it's one of the faster songs by Black Sabbath and we can do the cover our way. In retrospect, I'm happy that this song is part of Unchained."

“Unchained”:

For more info visit BurdenOfGrief.com.