:: Silent Fall - Otherwise

Silent Fall

I’m not overly familiar with the French metal scene, but what I have heard in the past hasn’t grabbed me as anything too innovative, ground breaking or all that entertaining. And unfortunately, Pitch Black Records’ latest signing in Paris-based outfit Silent Fall doesn’t change that one bit. Initially starting out as Winterland, the band eventually changed their name to Silent Fall after a complete overhaul of their line-up in 2009. With the line-up firmly established, the band entered the studio, with their debut full-length effort ‘Otherwise’ the result. A cursory listen to the six piece act quickly reveals both their direction and their collective influences. And in short, that’s melodic power metal in the vein of Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius.

When approaching melodic power metal, it’s best to keep in mind that there’s really nothing that hasn’t been done a million times before. Instead, what really matters is whether what’s offered up is done well, or is a complete disaster. In the case of ‘Otherwise’, I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s a complete disaster, but it does have its fair share of major flaws.
The opening track ‘Who Is The Fool?’ is quick to reveal one of the biggest faults within the band, and that’s the vocalist. Eyraud has a good voice, but his strong accent is hard to disguise at times. And despite his attempts to toughen up his voice, he can’t disguise the fact that he has all the aggression of Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet). The other issue is the rather lifeless production. The bass sounds like a wet thump at best, while the guitars lack that necessary bite to give the band that bit of edge.

‘Kill For Life’ is one of the album’s stronger moments, with the fast paced ‘Forever And Ever’, the acoustic ballad ‘One Cold Winter Night’, ‘World Of Secrets’ (which features a solo from Adagio’s Stephan Forté), ‘This Could Have Been’ (Where Eyraud duets alongside Wildpath’s Marjolaine Bernard) and epic/operatic ‘On The Top Of The World’ are picks on the remainder of the album. Silent Fall is a band that needs to spend a bit more time honing their song writing, and writing to the strengths of their vocalist. In saying that, Silent Fall isn’t the worst melodic power metal band I’ve happened across, but they certainly don’t rival their obvious influences either. Instead, ‘Otherwise’ is a solid album, but one that is held back by its glaring and obvious handicaps.