It has been quite a long time since a black/death metal release from Poland was a novelty; at one point the very idea would have sent chills down the spines of extreme metal fans everywhere. Now of course, many bands from Poland are huge (in underground metal terms anyway), and their particular spin on black and death metal is well known and admired.
After many underground demo releases, this is the band’s first full-length opus. Hats off to them for their tenacity and dedication, after 4 demos since 1997, with no label interest, many lesser bands would have given up and gone home with their tails between their legs. The path that In Silent follow often strays very close to the one which many of their fellow countrymen have also trodden, yet at times follows a different, unique direction which makes this release quite an interesting piece of work.
There is something very hypnotic and dark about this record; maybe it is the slightly rough, underground sound, perhaps it is the sheer ferocity in which the music is churned out, bashing the same malevolent riffs into your ears over and over again until you cave in. One thing is certainly evident however – In Silent have some mighty impressive riffs up their blackened sleeves.
Moments, rather than songs, are what make this album enjoyable. I hate to be too disparaging about a band who have clearly given it their all, and have ploughed their own sweat, tears, blood and money into all their own work. That said, the song writing does need some work; often the songs seem too short, yet also too simplistic and repetitive. It is true that In Silent have some genuinely killer riffs, the vast majority of which are incredibly dark, grim, heavy and grandiose. Constant repetition does these riffs an injustice however, if only In Silent could let the songs breathe a little more, they could really be a force to be reckoned with.
There are snippets of pure Vader-inspired breakneck brutality, but this isn’t the only string to the band’s death-dealing bow. I can occasionally hear other, slightly more diverse influences creeping in; a touch of Celtic Frost here, a whiff of Dark Funeral there. The more repetitive numbers fleetingly remind me of those subterranean Italian lunatics Mortuary Drape, although sometimes it just sounds plain amateurish. I was also going to write about the lyrics, but Google Translate did a terrible job of translating the Polish lyrics into English! Either that, or the lyrics really are gibberish, but I doubt it.
On the whole, this album shows a lot of potential – In Silent have it within themselves to be a powerhouse of distinctive blackened/death metal, but first they have to work on the song writing.
(6.5/10 Jon Butlin)
Leave a Reply