Burning Image are a Deathrock band from Bakersfield, California.
They were an anomaly in the punk pantheon of the 1980s. At the time, hardcore punk was the rage but was becoming formulaic and dumbed down as quickly as the songs were getting faster and shorter. Burning Image had more in common with the English "batcave" bands of the period like Specimen than any hardcore unit. Their goth sound, mixed with a heavy dose of theatrical sensibilities, caught the attention of Jello Biafra, who quickly championed the band as one of his favorites, and he was instrumental in getting Burning Image to open numerous times for the Dead Kennedys. Burning Image also did shows with 45 Grave, Specimen, Butthole Surfers, and Dr. Timothy Leary, just to name a few. The band put out a 7" single with the songs 'Final Conflict' and 'Burning Image, Burning'.
In 2003 Alternative Tentacles released a CD of Burning Image's early unreleased demos titled "1983-1987." The CD contains a whole album’s worth of songs from the sessions for the rare single "The Final Conflict" b/w "Burning Image, Burning" (along with the single itself, of course). Three tracks — "Gargoyles," "Anytime, Anywhere," and "Temptation" — were recorded in July 2003. The current Burning Image website has two new songs—"Haunted" and "Zealot"—written for a new Burning Image CD.
Burning Image have re-formed and release in May their new album titled "Fantasma."
