Silent Fall - Otherwise
Melodic and power metal never sounded sweeter with France's Silent Fall. Originally known as Winterland in 2007, the band changed their name in 2009 and within a brief year later, debuted with Otherwise. It is an exciting melodic metal album with lots of fun solos, keyboard passages, and soaring vocals that mix between singing and shouting. They're also not the high pitched, annoying kind as both singers can belt their vocals without sounding like women. The drumming is the standard, mid paced pounding, but it varies every once in a while to some very interesting degrees. And of course, there's a good mix of fast and slow songs, as melodic and power metal always features.
Opening with "Who Is The Fool?," there is some great percussive drumming here after a piano introduction. Subtle keyboards that are often played in a symphonic fashion moan over the vocals which follow the chugging riffs that often break into melodic solos. There's a few keyboard solos here too; not too technical like Dream Theater would produce but they still are impressive to a degree. "Kill For Life," as disturbing of a title as it is for a power metal album, has a creepy music box opening before launching into a much more upbeat, faster pace that betrays the title, but the great keyboard solo eventually dispels any sense of betrayal. "Forever And Ever" sounds quite operatic with some good guitar solos near the middle to go along with the vocals, which are often performed in a dual manner to give more range. "One Cold Winter Night" shifts everything to a much slower, more ballad like setting, but it isn't the slow, piano or keybord driven melodic metal song most would expect. The vocals come on a lot more soulful than emotional, and there's even a few guitar string pickings that really add a progressive flavor to the music. "I Wish" speeds things back up again with the pace and heavy guitar influence, but the melody isn't lost at all. "World Of Secrets" does a great job at keeping the keyboards subtle while adding some great power chord riffs to make the song intense, and there's even some vocoder work. "This Could Have Been" slows things down again, only this time there's some female vocals that are layered upon the male vocals to add some beauty while the keyboards have a strong orchestral arrangement, making this easily the most symphonic track on the album amongst a long, hard guitar solo. "On Top Of The World" is a great way to close the album with a mid paced, uplifting track that isn't too hard, but features a fair amount of keyboards and guitar skills.
The bonus tracks given are very similar to the rest of the album; it's a wonder why they didn't just make them part of the album save for the last track. "Heroes" has some great guitar solo melodies near the end of the track with a low, symphonic influence due to the keyboards. The vocals are mostly sung in the long, semi low operatic style, while the keyboard takes on a very jazzy piano feel. The reinterpretation of "Who Is The Fool?" isn't much different from the original, except that the vocals are screamed in a black metal rasp rather than sung. For some reason this doesn't really fit the music style though, as the harsh edge of the vocals clashes with the melodic nature of the rest of the music. Eventually the singing gives way over the screaming and the track just sounds like the original. Nothing special, and probably could have been left off the album altogether.
Opening with "Who Is The Fool?," there is some great percussive drumming here after a piano introduction. Subtle keyboards that are often played in a symphonic fashion moan over the vocals which follow the chugging riffs that often break into melodic solos. There's a few keyboard solos here too; not too technical like Dream Theater would produce but they still are impressive to a degree. "Kill For Life," as disturbing of a title as it is for a power metal album, has a creepy music box opening before launching into a much more upbeat, faster pace that betrays the title, but the great keyboard solo eventually dispels any sense of betrayal. "Forever And Ever" sounds quite operatic with some good guitar solos near the middle to go along with the vocals, which are often performed in a dual manner to give more range. "One Cold Winter Night" shifts everything to a much slower, more ballad like setting, but it isn't the slow, piano or keybord driven melodic metal song most would expect. The vocals come on a lot more soulful than emotional, and there's even a few guitar string pickings that really add a progressive flavor to the music. "I Wish" speeds things back up again with the pace and heavy guitar influence, but the melody isn't lost at all. "World Of Secrets" does a great job at keeping the keyboards subtle while adding some great power chord riffs to make the song intense, and there's even some vocoder work. "This Could Have Been" slows things down again, only this time there's some female vocals that are layered upon the male vocals to add some beauty while the keyboards have a strong orchestral arrangement, making this easily the most symphonic track on the album amongst a long, hard guitar solo. "On Top Of The World" is a great way to close the album with a mid paced, uplifting track that isn't too hard, but features a fair amount of keyboards and guitar skills.
The bonus tracks given are very similar to the rest of the album; it's a wonder why they didn't just make them part of the album save for the last track. "Heroes" has some great guitar solo melodies near the end of the track with a low, symphonic influence due to the keyboards. The vocals are mostly sung in the long, semi low operatic style, while the keyboard takes on a very jazzy piano feel. The reinterpretation of "Who Is The Fool?" isn't much different from the original, except that the vocals are screamed in a black metal rasp rather than sung. For some reason this doesn't really fit the music style though, as the harsh edge of the vocals clashes with the melodic nature of the rest of the music. Eventually the singing gives way over the screaming and the track just sounds like the original. Nothing special, and probably could have been left off the album altogether.
- Who Is The Fool?
- Kill For Life
- Haunted Sights
- Forever And Ever
- One Cold Winter Night
- I Wish
- Play With Fire
- World Of Secrets
- This Could Have Been
- Tears Of Fate
- On The Top Of The World
- Heroes (bonus track)
- Who Is The Fool? (black version)
Pitch Black Records
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
May 4, 2010
May 4, 2010
Next review:
Number H - Whisper In Your Ear
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