Review Summary: Silence screams loudest.
Eternal Closure are part of a new wave of melodic metalcore bands challenging the genre’s reputation for homogenous, stale, and often derivative material, and instead offering a fresh perspective featuring a marriage of new ideas with classic tropes. Hailing from Montreal, Quebec, the band offer an experimental take on a familiar style with
Screaming in Silence, combining their rock-solid metalcore foundation with a hard, thrash metal edge and some more unexpected features. As though in testament to this philosophy, the album opens up with the title track; a unique, albeit brief taste of the surprises to come, this delicate piano and symphonic driven arrangement carries a grandeur which wouldn't sound out of place within the context of a folk or power metal album. Here, it builds spectacularly towards the opening track and lead single ‘Turn the Tide’, but without giving anything too telling away in the process.
‘Turn the Tide’ is where the album really comes into its own, instantly dispelling the possibility for a common mixing issue by opening with a strong and compelling bass guitar riff, establishing the instrument’s presence right off the bat. This bass prominence is a welcome deviation from the unjustly obscure treatment it usually receives, not just within metalcore, but within the metal genre as a whole. Following this, the track does a comprehensive job of familiarising the listener with some recurring songwriting elements that pop up repeatedly throughout
Screaming in Silence. The combination of clean singing and harsh vocals, for example, is a technique that's heavily utilised. As aforementioned some tried-and-tested metalcore mainstay’s are core elements of Eternal Closure’s sound, among these include some well-handled breakdowns, occasionally predictable chorus’s, and arguably cliché yet undoubtedly fun gang vocals. But beyond the expected lies the real reason Eternal Closure stand out from the pack: they remain interesting by shaking things up. The album is simultaneously consistent and diverse. Whether it be the bouncy rhythm of ‘The Mirror’, the melodic arpeggios that lead into ‘Apathy’, or the clever balance of styles and dynamics that permeate this release - there's always something to keep you interested in what's going on. One of the best examples is the inventive use of semi-breakdowns - one of the most unique applications of a staple and often panned technique. Instead of a full-blown chug fest stretching a good portion of a track's running time, Eternal Closure use them as excitingly fleeting hooks and effective transitional pieces, thus transforming a potential weakness into an attention grabbing strength.
The result of this metalcore melting-pot isn’t perfect, but it's a commendable effort to be progressive nonetheless and results in a massively entertaining finished product. There are, however, some rather unfortunate shortcomings that hold it back. The harsh vocal quality is, for want of a better phrase, 'all over the place' on
Screaming in Silence. During certain tracks they're powerful and rich, to the point where the pre-gang vocal hook of “timeless existence!” on the song of the same name has an authentic, raw force to it. This allows for an interplay between the varied attack of the clean vocals as they glide into the barrage of deep growls that help give this album it's backbone. On other tracks, however, such as ‘The Mirror’, ‘No One Cares’ and more unfortunately ‘Turn the Tide’, they sit somewhat awkwardly in the mix, lacking the punch they require and giving the illusion that the vocalist isn't using his diaphragm. The otherwise excellent mixing allows for incredibly satisfying moments, like a faux bass solo in the latter half of ‘Wake Up Dead’, where the instruments drop away and the bass gurgles to the timing of a skeleton drum beat. It's just a shame the production couldn't be nailed for every component of the band's sound equally. Additional issues include a string of three songs on the tail end of the track list, just before the multi-part mammoth of a closer, that are somewhat lacklustre compared to the rest of the album and soften the lead-up to what should be a more effective finale to this album. There's nothing intrinsically
poor about them, in fact there isn't actually a faulty song on this release, they just fall more heavily into well-worn paths and end up sounding a tad predictable. The three also share a similar, clean-singing orientated and noticeably restrained sound, so their proximity to one another doesn't favour them individually. All of that said, the members of Eternal a Closure sound and play incredibly professionally, and when they pull together the results are praise-worthy. Given that this album is the band’s debut full-length, hopefully future material will continue to expand upon their sound and potential, reaching new heights and tightening up some problematic areas. In the end, what the band has achieved with
Screaming in Silence is a promising formula for new and exciting forays into metalcore, creating a collection of invigorating songs that promise a fun experience.
. The band's bandcamp page can be found here:
