I don’t need every record to grab me and whisk me off somewhere unexpected. In fact, the fewer the better because as I get older, I only have so much room to store the music that gives you an experience like few others. When they come, sometimes they hit hard right away, others take longer to show what makes them special.
“Looking Glass Hymnal Blue,” the second record from The Silver, was kind of both for me. The music did hit me right away, and I enjoyed every moment my first few listens. Then, without warning, it blossomed. Its vines grew through my brain, and this dark, emotional, even romantic record fully revealed that the adventure ahead would be like nothing else. The band—clean vocalist/guitarist/synth player V, harsh vocalist N, guitarist A, bassist J, drummer E—bring extensive experience from a lot of creative heavy hitters including Crypt Sermon, Nightsblood, and Horrendous, but none of what they do in those projects prepares for what awaits. Black metal, dark metal, some post-rock turns, and gothic tendencies are packed over these eight dramatic, devastating songs.
The title track opens in a haze before the tempo picks up and chugs, huffing blackness as N.’s harsh wails wrench, cold speaking sending chills, V.’s clean singing stretching over top. Guitars warm and bubble to the surface, dual vocals continue their interplay, and everything comes to a rousing end. “Two Candles” starts clean and ashen, clouds thickening before energy combusts, screams rippling down your spine. The call of, “And she left her kiss upon my lips,” sends this into a different dimension, swarming as rich singing adds shadow, soulful catchiness igniting and spreading through your bloodstream. Power blazes as calls for Victoria spill down walls, the torment and aggression making for strange partners. “Memorias” has a prog-ish start, howls scarring as the melodic singing offers a counterbalance, the pace plastering and eating at psyches. The pace stomps as leads simmer, sending neon beams into the vast emptiness. “Tendrils” is urgent and mauling, the speed sending you around hairpin bends, the singing and wailing pulling for control. The playing twists and bustles before coming unglued, ravaging to a heart-attacking finish.
“When the Moon Is Three” has thick bass driving, wails smearing, V. calling, “Night falls, I walk like a ghost,” as if relegated to roaming the streets from dusk until dawn. “Is this my damnation?” he wonders, the guitars taking a turn toward the moonlight. howls destroying as the guitars send heat. “The Demon Bridge” is cold and bruising, screams torching as the singing serves to ice congealing wounds. The playing gets acidic and tornadic, the leads taking on fiery intensity, the repeated admission of, “I am nothing,” blurring into blue hues. “Twilight of Love” greets with clubbing bass, guitars melting ice sheets, the singing adding a warmth to your thawing heart. The surroundings manage to get balmier in the second half, whispers echoing, V. lamenting, “Stolen hearts can seek no refuge.” Closer “My Lone Dark Lantern” opens with guitars dripping and glistening before fires explode, N.’s screams sending jolts through your bones. Growls wreck as the singing stirs, the tempo gutting as strong soloing explodes and flows like rivers of lava. The playing punches back as guitars continue to rampage, synth pockets thicken and emit intoxicating fumes, the final notes unearthing long-list desperate dreams.
The Silver continue to expand their repertoire and dark underworld with “Looking Glass Hymnal Blue,” a record that’s not bound to have many, if any, sonic and thematic equals this year or any. In that it’s unique stuff, black metal and dark metal wrapped into a world that invites only those who exist in the shadows, who also have wrestled with inner turmoil, gothic drama, and emotions that wrap like a tight cord around your chest. This is a fascinating record that, while heavy as can be, is better suited for imbibing in the late hours in solitude as you gaze upon your conflicting visions of self.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.instagram.com/thesilverofficial
To buy the album, go here: https://gileadmedia.net/products/the-silver-looking-glass-hymnal-blue-lp
For more on the label, go here: https://gileadmedia.net/
Meat Mead Metal 