Greek Heavy/Power Metal band The Silent Rage are back after a lengthy break of seven years, with the weighty follow-up to their impressive debut “The Deadliest Scourge” and as you might expect with such a gap between albums, there have been changes. Joining the band’s founding guitarist Nikos Siglidis and drummer Stamatis Katsafados are guitarist Nikos Sarbanis, bassist George Haniotakis and vocalist Michalis Rinakakis, all making a large impact on the band’s overall sound. Yes, the band started impressively enough, but now they really sound like they mean business.
The Silent Rage’s current line-up has enabled the band to now fully explore the areas of Metal hinted at on their debut, with added conviction and vigour. On initial face value, there’s an almost traditional German Power Metal lilt to The Silent Rage, akin to Primal Fear, Iron Savior, Metalium, Brainstorm etc. But as the album quickly unfolds, the European Metal standpoint is blended and almost enveloped by an American Heavy/Power Metal reminding the listener of Helstar, Holy Mother, Iced Earth and Jag Panzer. This is further enhanced by guest appearances by recent Iced Earth vocalist Stu Block (equally, if not more known for his main band Into Eternity) and Jag Panzer vocalist Harry Conklin. The Silent Rage have really hit on something here, and they know it, driving their message home with complete confidence and power.
This blending of German/Greek Heavy/Power Metal with a Stateside counterpart is made possible by the crushingly heavy guitars and powerful rhythms that are abundant throughout this excellently produced album, but emphatically cemented by the vocal acrobatics, which skip between powerful mid-range and effortless screaming falsetto with complete ease. Rinakakis matches every bone-crunching guitar riff with an equally resounding vocal line, the vocals twinning octaves at will and delivering a compelling performance that crowns an already striking album. Packed full of power and melody, delivered with guts and even more power, The Silent Rage have taken a big step forward with “Nuances Of Life” and if this line-up stays in place I’m sure it won’t be another seven years before they capitalise on it further.
(8/10 Andy Barker)
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