Beneath the Silence – Phoenix (Self-Released)
Sunday, 3rd June 2018
If there’s one takeaway from the current metal scene, its that you have to be willing to combine different elements in order to truly standout. It’s not enough to simply replicate the past for most bands to be noticed. Even with something like melodic metal, the doors are still wide open – welcoming a fresh take. Something Beneath the Silence takes full advantage of on Phoenix.
There’s a distinctly modern feel to the music of Beneath the Silence. It tends to fall more in line with the djent/metalcore movement with a proggy twist about it. The groovy and sometimes syncopated riffs, occasional dabbling into more esoteric atmosphere, the melodic yet aggressive tone – it’s all here. But they spruce up the place nicely by adding in some staright-forward riff structures, melodies, and the soaring vocals of Mette Hessellund, who falls more in line with Amy Lee or Cristina Scabbia. So the end result carries some pretty heavy riffing with an almost gothic undertone to it. It proves to be quite effective, and songs like “Can You Hear Me” do a good job of weaving everything together seamlessly. They can sprinkle in a rock-ish chorus, mellow things down with some atmosphere, and crank things up further with some thundering riffs. From the playful bounce of “Ashes” to the powerful grooves of “Hate Me” to the anthemic chorus of “Break the Circle,” there’s not a moment wasted. The musicianship behind it all keeps it from solely being a more vocal-forward and superficial release, even if Hessellund does deliver a fantastic performance.
While at 5 songs and 20-minutes, it’s more of a taste than anything else, Beneath the Silence leave a wonderful first impression. Their sound is direct and hard-hitting, yet with an emotive resonance beneath it all. It seems they are on the cusp of something that could really take them places as they advance their sound.
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