WITHIN SILENCE – Return From The Shadows (2017)
WITHIN SILENCE return with their sophomore album “Return From The Shadows“, an effort that will please fans of classic Euro melodic metal spiced with hard rock groove. The album was mixed and mastered by Roland Grapow [Masterplan, Helloween] and the artwork created by Jan Yrlund [Delain, Apocalyptica, Korpiklaani].
Without looking it up, my first thought was that Within Silence was likely a Swedish band given the strength of the performances and overall style but after looking around, it appears they are actually from Kosice, Slovakia.
Their first album in 2015 was released on Ulterium records and get the band slots in festivals across Europe and as support for Theocracy.
Sometimes the opening song can not only make or break an album but also allows the listener to know whether or not the rest of the album will be worthy of a listen. Such is the case with “Return From The Shadows”.
Track 1 ‘We are the Ones’ just explodes into a driving rhythm with some good layered guitar over the top and quickly gets into the verse section showcasing Martin Klein’s smooth, somewhat dark vocals. A driving low end, cool riffs and vocals that alternate from quieter to soaring, channeling aspects of Bruce Dickinson at times. Add in some guitar solos that fit well within the structure of the song and the album is off to a great start.
At this point, it is very clear this album was very well done both in production and performances / songwriting… and that’s after the first song.
‘Heroes Must Return’ slows things down a bit and makes use of a solid drum beat to carry much of the verse sections and then some great gang vocals to signal transitions within the song. The sense of melody plays well with the hot riffs, in a song with a strong early ’80s hard rock feel.
‘Children of the Light’ is plenty of cleverly arranged harmony vocals, and where I really appreciate the rhythm guitar parts within the song as those are some catchy riffs and really jumped out to my ears.
“Calling from the Darkness” has one of the heavier opening riffs. It’s a dark song, but very catchy at the same time and I think I even hear some older Dokken-like chorus vocal parts.
The songs “The Final Victory”, “You and I”, and “Master” all travel along the same general path as the previously described, and are strong, well build / arranged songs.
‘In the Darkness’ starts with a lone guitar playing a slower, sorrowful riff before the rest of the band comes in and then the speed picks up a bit and Viktor Varga on bass and Peter Gacik on drums really contribute a solid backing section driving things along. Some choir-like vocals come in before everything breaks down and clean guitars accompany Martin Klein’s vocals that on this song, at places, have a bit of a melodic rock characteristic to them.
Title track “Return From The Shadows” starts out in a completely opposite manner, with clean guitars and subdued bass that serves only to complement Klein’s vocals. The general peace doesn’t last long and the distortion and galloping riffs from the guitars soon come in. The brighter tone of the group vocals conveys a sense of triumph in this song and others on the album, contrasting nicely with the power in the riffs.
From the first few seconds of “Return From The Shadows”, Within Silence pull out all the stops in a blazing collection of classic melodic metal tracks. Fortunately for the listener, the band also has a knack for groovy riffs / harmonies in the vein of Axel Rudi Pell, and branches out in some longer tracks bringing in some symphonic and progressive elements that serve to keep the listener interested.
Strongly Recommended
01 – We Are The Ones
02 – Heroes Must Return
03 – Children Of Light
04 – Calling From The Other Side
05 – In The Darkness
06 – The Final Victory
07 – You & I
08 – Master
09 – Return From The Shadows
Martin Klein – Vocals
Peter Gacik – Drums
Richard Germanus – Guitars
Martin Cico – Guitars
Viktor Vega – Bass
PRE ORDER:
www.amazon.de/Return-Shadows-Within-Silence/dp/B074WJVDWH
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