Released by: Sensory Records
Release Date: Out Now!!!
Genre: Dark Progressive Metal
Links: http://www.inthesilence.net
Line Up:
Josh Burke: vocals, guitars
Nate Higgins: guitars
Dennis Davis: bass
Niko Panagopoulos: drums
Tracklist:
1.Ever Closer
2.17 Shades
3.Serinity
4.Beneath The Falling Leaves
5.Close To Me
6.Endless Sea
7.All The Pieces
8.Your Reward
What do we got here ? Another new, fresh face in the field of dark atmospheric progmetal. A band called In The Silence with their debut album “A Fair Dream Gone Mad”, an interesting title.
Founded in 2007 by guitarist/vocalist Josh Burk the band recorded several demo’s before deciding to go for a full fledged album. This finally happened in the periode between june 2011 and may 2012. Recorded in their home studio in Sacramento CA with producer Jack Trammell the forty five minute record was first released by the band themselves and after selling some hundred copies of it, and more importantly catching the attention of some popular webzines worldwide, In The Silence managed to strike a deal with Sensory Records (a division of the well known label The Laser’s Edge) which will be re-releasing the record as a digipack version in april 2013. And the future even looks brighter as Intromental Management signed them for a tour in North America the upcoming year with an already confirmed performance at the ProgPower USA XIV festival in Atlanta.
So on to the music than. After listening to this piece of work I would compare it with the output of European based groups like Alcest (France) and Katatonia (Sweden), a doomy kind of shoegaze-metal. The music is quite haunting with dreamy, sometimes soft whispering vocals leaving you in a rather spiritual, otherworldly state. The album’s cover in grey tones fits the music and created atmosphere very well.
The opener ‘Ever Closer’ gave me immediately a ‘wow’ feeling but sadly this euphoric state of mine didn’t prolong in the following tracks. For me the different tracks lack a bit of diversity as every song is build around some certain steady elements: a quite, often accoustic intro creating a dark mood suddenly smashed by loud riffing guitars that hit you like a hammer. My moment of awe however returned towards the end of the album with ‘All The Pieces’, a more aggressive track with a great guitarsolo and some fabulous drumming, and especially the final one, aptly titled ‘Your Reward’. This, slightly deviant, track tends more to progressive and symphonic rock with a bit of the old Floyd thrown in. And again drummer Niko Panagopoulos shows some impressive skills which echoes a bit of Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree).
The musicianship is stunning, the melodies appealing and the production is immaculate. So what more can you want ? Well, maybe a bit more diversity in the songwriting. But hey, this is a debut album from a young bunch of musicians so I will give them the credit and I’m sure that In The Silence has enough potential to develop themselves into a top band in this genre.
If you are into music that sounds like an autumn leaf whirling in a cold and harsh wind than this one should be very attractive to you.
Written by Ruud
Ratings Ruud 8/10
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