The Burning Hell

"It was with pleasure that I discovered the Burning Hell. The mostly-ukulele music and laugh-inducing lyrics of Mathias Kom stay on the good side of silly, while still maintaining that increasingly scarce sincerity.” - Montreal Mirror

Whether it’s Mathias Kom on his own or backed by 13 stellar musicians animating his quirky, sardonic, parlour pop, Peterborough’s The Burning Hell put on an incredible live show. A harbinger of wonderful performances to come, Happy Birthday is generally inward and comically morbid; the title track actually includes the lyrics in its coda, “to the end of the world.” It’s more “classy circus” than “cheap funeral” though, with Kom drawing from The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt and Smog’s Bill Callahan for his own dry baritone, deceptively jaunty arrangements and skewed perspectives on life and love. There’s a demented grin accompanying “Everything You Believe Is a Lie” and a hopeless romanticism dripping through “In the Palms of Your Hands.” The Burning Hell’s people’s folk music is familiar but there’s something lively and unique coursing through Kom’s songs. - Eye Weekly

"We're all burning, but we seldom think of putting out the fire. Peterborough, Ont.'s Mathias Kom can already see the ashes, and finds the sight both humbling and comic. His latest album is full of droll observations about the big issues of our mortal smouldering, such as the wickedness of God, the tragedy of moths and light bulbs, and the possibility of love after death. A few of his homespun songs have the macabre brio of outtakes from The Corpse Bride, while others propose a world where gentle dreamers become municipal monarchs. Several offer goodbyes for now or forever, including a closing farewell symphony in which each saluted instrument drops out in turn. Kom fears not, for his ukelele and his wit protect him, and his rumbling lazy baritone takes care of the rest of us." - Globe and Mail

“Moments of macabre comedy weave their way in and out of nearly every song on Happy Birthday… the kind of album we'll be throwing on the stereo as the end times draw near and we crowd into our bomb shelters to eat granola bars and have a good laugh over everything that's gone wrong with the world.” - Chart Attack

After all the build-up, The Burning Hell didn't disappoint. The members
took the stage one or two at a time, taking turns singing duets with
Kom, before climaxing with a rock-out finish nobody was expecting from this pseudo-folk band.

While every song they played had some depressing theme at its root, all were presented in a comical way, laced with jokes and wit. Songs about death, dinosaurs (older men who play in cover bands) and divorce highlighted their set, often resulting in uproars of laughter from the audience.

These musicians played for nearly three hours in all, giving Whitehorse
a show not soon to be forgotten. - Chart Attack

“Happy Birthday is a perfect balance of mirth and the morbid…every song here announces Kom as one of the finest new songwriters in Canada.” - Guelph Mercury

“Don't let Mathias Kom's doomy Leonard Cohen baritone or the brooding, skeletal folk arrangements upon which he tends to hang his words fool you – the guy's actually pretty funny. The Burning Hell's latest album, Happy Birthday, is veritably overflowing with black wit and cracked genius.” - Toronto Star

“With its dark humour and quirky parlour pop, Happy Birthday is a damned fine record, showcasing the sharp charm of the Burning Hell’s main man, Mathias Kom…With flashes of American iconography and old, weird folk leanings, Happy Birthday is foreign but comfortable.” - Exclaim!

“Happy Birthday is full of anti-love songs and heartbreakingly hilarious truths . If this band doesn’t hit town soon, I’ll be forced to fly to its hometown of Peterborough to see them.” - Vue

"The Burning Hell is an intriguing combination of musical prowess and lyrical perversive-ness put together with a keen eye for the details. Kom manages a seemingly impossible combination of cynicism and hope recorded over the rock version of folk music instrumentation.” - BeatRoute