Some people have jobs as writers. Jobs where they get paid. These are some of the things they have said:

The Globe and Mail, Feb. 22 '08 - "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."

Toronto Star, Jan. 08 - “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.”

Vue Weekly, Jan 08 – “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—somewhere I swore I’d never go again—to see them.”

ChartAttack.com, Jan. 08 - “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.”

Guelph Mercury, Feb. 08 – “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.”

Eye Weekly, March 5, '08 - "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."

Exclaim! Magazine, Feb 08 – “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.”

Montreal Mirror, Mar 07 - "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.”

BeatRoute Magazine Nov 07 - "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.”

ECHO Weekly COVER STORY - Jan. 10, 2008 - "Much like the albums that Johnny Cash made toward the end of his life, Happy Birthday is the aural equivalent to the denouement that follows a calamitous party; the dust has settled, moods have tempered and Mathias Kom has sat down to offer up some music that'll smooth the last rough edges and raw nerves. Over spare instrumentation (acoustic guitar and ukulele are the constants, but mandolin, lap steel, drums, cello and keys occasionally poke through), Kom half- speaks his twisted, sardonic tales of love, woe and late nights with such a deadpan delivery as to be comical in its own way. As could be expected of a record that makes the most of such faux dour beginnings, Happy Birthday inevitably picks up steam as it goes - adding more instrumentation and slightly quicker tempos, but also getting funnier at the same time."

iheartmusic.net - "To the list of great albums, I'd add The Burning Hell's Tick Tock. Led by Mathias Kom, the band is a strange mix of gospel ("It Happens In Florida"), folk-ish rock ("Bretton Woods"), gorgeous country (most notably on "All The Stars And Parking Lots", where his rumbling bass vocals are offset beautifully by Jill Staveley's deadpanned, Emmylou Harris-esque voice) and...well, whatever you'd call all that mixed with ukelele ("99 Months"). It's certainly like very little else out there, and it's easy to see why weewerk loved Kom and his band enough to sign them and release their new album early in 2008. When that one comes out, the expectations created by Tick Tock guarantee that it'll get thrown on my stereo/iPod right away."