ThrashPunx

SILENCER – the Great Bear CD

I’ve known and followed SILENCER since the late 90’s.   I’ve seen them morph through line-ups sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.  Always at the helm was die-hard metal head Keith Spargo.  The first time I ever even knew of that dude was seeing him get up on stage, picked from the crowd, to jam on stage with MANOWAR! And he fuckin’ nailed it.  For years SILENCER carried the flag for Heavy Metal in Denver while getting some attention on the national and international scenes as well.   In the last few years I have to admit the band slipped off my radar, I hadn’t seen or heard them in some time.  But, it wasn’t long ago that news started to spread that Patrick Russell of SERBERUS and CEPHALIC CARNAGE fame was joining the band on bass.  Fuck yeah! This was good news indeed as I knew Patrick and he was a serious dude, no fucking around, all metal…No bullshit.  Well he brought that to the fold and that is what we have a here…A return to form for SILENCER…No bullshit…Just serious fucking HEAVY METAL!!!!  My favorite thing about this album is that it spans multiple sub-genres of metal integrating their influences of thrash, power, and classic metal.  Dare I say there is even a Pink Floyd influence on here?  The song ‘Enigma’ sounds like a Heavy Metal Pink Floyd.  Not that sappy QUEENSRYCHE bullshit, but a heavy song with a tripped out feel if not only in the vocal delivery.  And let’s talk about the vocals.  My favorite stuff these guys did was always when Keith was fronting the band.  Somewhere along the line they got a “vocalist” and that’s really when I lost track of them.  The vocals on this album are dead-fucking-on.  They are powerful and moving and are varied in their delivery depending on the needs of each track.  In short the vocal deliveries and arrangements are fucking ace!  Again, like I said I was a fan of Keith’s vocals on the early stuff but I have to say I was blown away when I looked at the credits to see who was holding the mic these days.  Keith has really grown and/or pushed himself into being a stand-up metal vocalist.  His delivery, like their overall sound, is powerful and unique yet familiar. The influences are not so much worn on his, or their, sleeve(s) but celebrated with passion in the fabric of what is uniquely his (theirs) own creation.  That’s the beauty of this album, it sounds familiar yet original at the same time.  It sounds fresh without sounding new, it sounds old-school without sounding retro or dated.  It’s rare when a band can pull that off as flawlessly as SILENCER has.  Even the perspective that this album is written from is original.  The concept is a look at the cold war through the eyes of the Soviets.  American propaganda was out of control and still infects our society today in how we view the Soviet Union.  To tell a tale from their perspective is incredibly interesting but also risky or even brave one might say.  We live in society where the media and our leaders beat us down, into submission, with the idea that the world is our enemy.  Most sheeple will never stop to take a more empathetic look at the world from the eyes of the “enemy”.   And with that peace stays at arm’s length, just out of our grasp.  The war on terror has villainized entire cultures and races of people.  The only real enemy is our apathy and ignorance…I digress…  This album is the shit!  I hope it gets SILENCER the attention they deserve.  (Josh Mosh)

http://www.facebook.com/Silencermetal

http://vanitymusicgroup.com/

~ by thrashpunx on February 12, 2013.

Posted in Reviews
Tags: heavy Metal, Silencer, thrash, thrash metal