International metal bands are commonplace today. The internet takes borders away, seeking out the best musicians from any part of the world. Take Silent Angel – a power / symphonic metal act that contains members from Malaysia and Italy, together in part since 1998 as BlueBlood – going on hiatus for fifteen years before returning in 2015, a new lineup breathing life into their sound. It’s been eight years since the Descent of Angels EP, now unleashing this first album with Unyielding, Unrelenting. Considering the songwriting encompasses the entire lifespan of the group, it’s easy to understand why these ten tracks contain a lot of qualities that followers of late 90’s/early 2000’s symphonic power / heroic metal will easily appreciate.
The employment of dual female singers with Claudia Beltrame (also of Degrees of Truth) and Gracie Shona gives the band depth in terms of the styles explored because of their ranges – everything from rock to metal and operatic angles touched upon, coming together to harmonize certain passages for “Through Selene’s Eyes” to add more emotional, dramatic tension that mirrors the musical components. Guitarist Eric Poon as the main songwriter drives influences like Helloween, Hammerfall, and Stratovarius to the forefront, dazzling with tasty positive chord progressions and sophisticated lead breaks that make “Against the Tides” and “Descent Into Infinity” early appealers. At certain times Silent Angel also explores 80’s classic heroes like Iron Maiden when you hear the main hooks and higher melodies of “Angel Rising”, the drumming from Pae steady with interesting power moves which line up to the energetic guitar runs. The longest track “Twilight of the Black Rose” concludes the record, a six-minute plus outing that contains a calmer intro, choir/ orchestration components, dazzling neoclassical keyboard/guitar break tradeoffs and some operatic melodies to showcases the multi-genre influences at play with these musicians.
Years in the making, Unyielding, Unrelenting is a labor of love that has some appeal to the symphonic, power metal marketplace. Pulling songs together that span decades, Silent Angel hopefully can develop more new material in a timely fashion to see where they are able to take things for the future. For now, this is an adequate representation of a band with plenty of potential to expand their creative horizons.