Review Summary: A band who realized 'tech metal doesn't need shredding and endless chugging' early in the game.
If you're a musician, you'll always find yourself drawn to something technical. You can appreciate what they do, even if it isn't quite your fancy. Anyone who can keep a simple 4/4 will appreciate
Fell Silent for that same reason. Technical metal these days has come down to a competition of who can chug harder without their pick breaking, who can do more blast beats, and who can make their bass quieter. Most bands emphasize those three things to a cringe-worthy level. But there's always a ray of hope for music, as
Fell Silent illustrates by managing to bypass these flaws on their first full length.
They're
SikTh meets head on with
Meshuggah, producing a refreshing result. Blending complex poly-rhythms with dual singers screaming their hearts out, they come across a sound that is nowhere near forced or over the top. The beauty of their playing is they clearly illustrate that you don't need to be fast to be technical. While some bands (like
PsyOpus) feel the sub-conscious urge to punch you in the face with arpeggio after arpeggio, Fell Silent shows the beauty and impact that lies in sheer simplicity.
These lads constantly pump grooves that make you bob your head and just feel the music. On top of that, bass is almost always audible, and completely up to par with the bands complex rhythm section. The drummer and guitarists all blend together seamlessly, and seem to flow in and out of each others riffs. Their writing is truly magnificent, and each song consistently shows you their capability. Production on this album is spectacular; it gives to everything you want to hear, minus the unnecessary polishing most bands insist on throwing into their mix.
As earlier mentioned, they have dual singers, each with an almost identical voice. Reminiscent of SikTh, their vocals are usually a high throaty shriek. The positive of this is that it's hard to picture them sounding good with any other band. It also helps them distance themselves from their wholly underwhelming peers, who are still trying figure out if their hair matches their breakdowns. (When they find a way, the world will be a
very scary place.)
The band also has great clean sections, and the singers show their capability outside the realm of screaming. Clean chords, tasteful drumming, and above-par vocals are hard to find in a convenient little package amidst today’s technical scene. While lyrically lacking, you probably won't notice among the unintelligible vocals. Nonetheless, one song is all it will take to convince you:
This band is going places.
Bands like this give hope to the stale-looking future of technical metal. Their first release, and they're already something to look up to. While some of the songs sound the same, each is still extraordinary. Technical, not over the top. Complex, but it doesn't lose you. They strike a happy medium between everything that you could love and hate in technical metal. The Hidden Words is a great, fun listen, and shows that maybe the British aren't
all bad.
PROS
Mind blowing rhythm section
Never over the top
Very capable vocalists
CONS
Songs blend together
Vocalist’s screams can be a put off at first.
