Saturday, December 27, 2008

Hidden Silence - Black Hearted Spiritual (2008)

I don't hear many melodic death metal bands from Malaysia, so I was rather pleasantly surprised by this album. This young act seamlessly combines a thrash influence with the 'atmosphere' of melodic or symphonic death metal and the result is a set of pretty kick ass tracks. I honestly liked this album.

"Night of the Living Terror" opens with an almost black metal feel, and then busts out into an excellent thrash/speed metal riff, later picking up the pace into a driving, keyboard-laden melodic death pace. The song also has some nice melodies near the bridge, and more thrashing riffs. "Necromenicide" has a dense, razor's edge to the guitars, which thrash and groove beneath Deadzid's evil death metal growl. "Blood World" has a more somber, melodic death metal feel. "Desperate Dog" has a classic NWOBHM riff sequence to it, really excellent, amidst some thrashing bits. "Cast Away" is an instrumental with some keyboards and acoustics, but it's a nice set up for the wonderful "Final Destination". The title track is perhaps the weakest here since it has a different production which is far more primitive, perhaps it is live?

The mix is quite nice, the songs reverberate and feel very epic, whether that was intentional or not matters little, it makes the album sound refreshing and different. The riffs are simple and catchy throughout, and the leads and melodies are always tasteful and memorable where they appear. If you're looking for more melodic death but are fed up with the Swedish bred style, this is a nice alternative, even if it's not as complex. Excited to hear more.

Verdict: Win [8/10]


http://www.myspace.com/hiddensilencemetal

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