A
WALK THROUGH OCEANS MCD.
REVIEWS PAGE 3.
METAL
OBSERVER. (GERMANY).
The Britons of UNSILENCE already have a pretty turbulent past to look
at. Founded in 1993 already, the band released its first MCD "Shadows
Cast In Stone" in 1994, followed by an offer of an Italian label
to release a MCD, which fell through because of monetary problems of the
label. So they released "An Unfinished Chapter" as second demo
in 1996, in turn followed by another offer for two complete albums by
yet another Italian label, which led to the band re-entering the studio
in 1997. The result was "Choirs Of Memory", which was due to
be out in 1998, but starting the year after the band was no step further.
In 2000 this resulted in yet another MCD, their third, titled "Transfiguration".
In March 2002 UNSILENCE recorded the MCD "A Walk Through Oceans",
in the new Academy Studio, together with Mags, and these recordings finally,
in the ninth year, led to the contract with Scottish label Golden Lake
Productions, who in the end released the 4-tracker in 2002. To add insult
to injury the band also was plagued by a number of line up changes in
their earlier stages.
"A Walk Through Oceans" now also is the reason for this review
and don't let the expression MCD and the number of songs fool you, because
we get presented with more than 30 minutes of music. At the sight of the
name UNSILENCE and the logo, I had expected something much harsher, especially
vocally, but nope. UNSILENCE play a kind of Doom Metal, which does not
necessarily define itself by extreme slowness or expressively forefront
melancholy, but have an atmosphere that at times reminds me of their countrymen
of SOLSTICE, which somehow sounds British to me.
Opening "Still" hardly features any doomy tempos over its entire
playing time, instead it is mostly held in mid tempo, but the atmosphere,
which mostly is created by the riffing, the keyboards and especially the
very nice sounding voice of Andrew Hodson, almost automatically gets them
classified in this category. On "The Unknown" they at least
partly lower the tempo quite a bit and also speed wise approximate the
atmosphere.
With "Deep Is The Stigma" they continue this tendency, another
notch slower, but still really fitting with the rest of the songs, just
like the closing title track "A Walk Through Oceans", which
also implements some calmer passages as well as single growls and thus
also differing a little from the rest, yet without sounding alienated,
quite the contrary.
Even though there are only four songs on "A Walk Through Oceans",
UNSILENCE still have managed to create a very cohesive epos, which bears
the almost incomparable British Doom atmosphere in it and therefore should
be interesting for quite a few genre fans. I like it and as the CD already
had been released in 2002, I now am eagerly awaiting the full album!
Review by Alex Melzer. Website: http://www.metal-observer.com
Email: mailto:alex@metal-observer.com
DOOM-METAL.COM
(NETHERLANDS).
Unsilence is a band that was never in the centre of attention. They have
been releasing music for several years now and have never gained any large-scale
recognition in the doom scene. I'd say this is very undeserved, as they
have found a good style of their own through the years.
'A Walk Through Oceans' is an MCD with four great tracks that will appeal
to a wide doom audience. The five Englishmen play melodic doom/death with
excellent clean vocals by singer Andrew Hodson. Only once, at the end
of the last song, does the characteristic death grunt rear its head.
The songs consist mostly of interchanging melodic and heavy riffs, with
the odd guitar solo thrown in. The first few spins it all doesn't sound
very original, but the feeling passes as the four songs sink a bit deeper
into your brain. You come to respect the brilliant parts on the album
(especially the great ending of 'The Unknown') for what they are.
All in all, this is a good release from a band that deserves more attention,
even if the doom/death genre is a bit saturated. Highly recommended for
any doom/death fan and fans of Mourning Beloveth in particular.
Reviwe by Oskar Strik. Website: http://www.doom-metal.com
Email: NOSPAMqwallath@doom-metal.com
ETERNAL
FROST WEBZINE (U.S.A.).
UNSILENCE play traditional sounding doom along the lines of BLACK SABBATH,
SOLITUDE AETURNUS, CANDLEMASS and others. Atmospheric, epic, emotional
doom metal. Clean vocals all the way, deep clear and straight forward.
Solid drumming, guitar lead solos. Keyboards in the background for atmosphere
and a thick bass and rhythm guitar sound make for a decent doom listen.
Fans of the aforementioned bands should check into UNSILENCE as they are
definitely worth a listen.
Metal Mike Soucy Website: http://home.earthlink.net/~goden666/eternalfrost/issue15/album_t_z.htm
DIRECTORY
OF DIRGE (NORTHERN IRELAND).
Straight away, we are bombarded with the classic doom sound so proliferate
with Academy Studio's and Mags. Pounding toms ands driving guitar draw
parallels to classic acts such as Solstice and the nice twin guitar melodies
recall bands from classic maiden to a (slightly) more up-tempo My Dying
Bride. I would prefer the vocal to have been a little less "in-your-face"
as it tends to overwhelm the music and whilst the vocals are capable,
they are not quite dynamic enough to pull of this particular mix. Overall,
a depressingly competent CD with songs that are easily of similar standard
to their peers.
Review by Marty Robinson. Website: http://www.ilovemetal.co.uk