Silent Force
Rising From Ashes
AFM Records
2013
Many fans of the band, including me, had been thinking that Silent Force called it a day. You see, the years were passing and there was no news from the band’s camp. Especially when I saw D.C. Cooper returning to Royal Hunt2 years ago, I was pretty sure that Silent Force was no more. But, hey, never say never huh?!
The band is here shouting by the album’s title that they are rising from their ashes. But is this Silent Force the band we used to know? Is this the same band which released the excellent “Walk the Earth” in 2007? Yes & no. The 3/5 of the band has changed. Apart from the official members, Alex Beyrodt (guitars) & André Hilgers (drums), there’s a new singer, the renowned, Michael Bormann PowerWorld, Redrum, ex-TAX, ex-The Sygnet, ex-Biss, ex-Bloodbound etc.), a new bassist, the famous, Mat Sinner (Primal Fear, Goddess Shiva, Sinner, Voodoo Circle etc.) and a new keyboardist, the well-known, Alessandro Del Vecchio (Edge of Forever, Gianluca Ferro, Brunorock, Hardline, Moonstone Project etc.) on the band today.
A strong line-up really, but Silent Force are more of a project nowadays instead of an “actual” band. The aforementioned great musicians are all participating in many projects/bands. They may be a good choice to make an album but you need dedicated members to call yourself a band and have a certain and focused course. Some of those 3 (if not all) newcomers are very likely to abstain from the next Silent Force album. Do you get my point here?
Silent Force, nowadays, are more of a hard & heavy/melodic metal band than the heavy/power metal one they used to be. It was somehow expected with someone like Michael on vocals & Alessandro on keys. Michael has a strong & “dominating” voice that ideally fits hard rock/melodic metal bands. And that’s more than obvious from the first note of this album. I’m sure those who are expecting to hear some heavy/power metal music, like they did on “Walk the Earth” will be vastly dissatisfied. I can’t tell why Alex (who also did the production) chose to make the band’s sound more hard rockin’ and didn’t follow the same heavy/power metal way, but I’m sure he knows what he’s up to. Then again another singer would be needed if the band hadn’t changed its sound. Nonetheless, “Rising From Ashes” is a rather good album with some nice tracks and great performances on the whole. The critical point is what lies for the band from now on…
The band is here shouting by the album’s title that they are rising from their ashes. But is this Silent Force the band we used to know? Is this the same band which released the excellent “Walk the Earth” in 2007? Yes & no. The 3/5 of the band has changed. Apart from the official members, Alex Beyrodt (guitars) & André Hilgers (drums), there’s a new singer, the renowned, Michael Bormann PowerWorld, Redrum, ex-TAX, ex-The Sygnet, ex-Biss, ex-Bloodbound etc.), a new bassist, the famous, Mat Sinner (Primal Fear, Goddess Shiva, Sinner, Voodoo Circle etc.) and a new keyboardist, the well-known, Alessandro Del Vecchio (Edge of Forever, Gianluca Ferro, Brunorock, Hardline, Moonstone Project etc.) on the band today.
A strong line-up really, but Silent Force are more of a project nowadays instead of an “actual” band. The aforementioned great musicians are all participating in many projects/bands. They may be a good choice to make an album but you need dedicated members to call yourself a band and have a certain and focused course. Some of those 3 (if not all) newcomers are very likely to abstain from the next Silent Force album. Do you get my point here?
Silent Force, nowadays, are more of a hard & heavy/melodic metal band than the heavy/power metal one they used to be. It was somehow expected with someone like Michael on vocals & Alessandro on keys. Michael has a strong & “dominating” voice that ideally fits hard rock/melodic metal bands. And that’s more than obvious from the first note of this album. I’m sure those who are expecting to hear some heavy/power metal music, like they did on “Walk the Earth” will be vastly dissatisfied. I can’t tell why Alex (who also did the production) chose to make the band’s sound more hard rockin’ and didn’t follow the same heavy/power metal way, but I’m sure he knows what he’s up to. Then again another singer would be needed if the band hadn’t changed its sound. Nonetheless, “Rising From Ashes” is a rather good album with some nice tracks and great performances on the whole. The critical point is what lies for the band from now on…