Review Summary: All these pills won’t scratch the surface if the cancer’s in my soul.
With these few words, Garrett Russell touches upon what is actually a major philosophical issue. With his own unfortunate history of mental health struggles, Russell dares the listener to question the state of mental health treatment in the twenty-first century. What truly causes depression, or anxiety, or schizophrenia? Is it purely physical? If so, medicine should help. But considering the snap and subsequent stay in a mental hospital that was the source of lyrical content for this album, coupled with the fact that he is a spiritual person, Russell is quietly calling into question what many consider to be the usual on solving mental health problems.
Can these pills that so many take almost religiously resolve the problem? Or are we doomed to eternally suffer from our own insecurities, anxieties and angst? If happiness is possible, how do we find it? Do the “systems” that exist in order to make us happy actually just enslave us further? Are we impossibly complex composites of molecules resulting in living organisms or are we spiritual beings? How do our shortcomings fit into this?
Can I make myself better?
While no solution is necessarily provided for these questions, it isn’t needed. Such a philosophical approach does not lend itself to solving these problems, but instead asks the questions that no one openly asks. It is an attempt to break through mundane thought and human blindness, and point out the fallacies of ubiquitous herd mentality.
While I could go on for pages about philosophical conundrums, this is a review about an album called
Iridesecent by Silent Planet. Fortunately, to complement the somewhat heavy subject matter, the band simultaneously provides some of the tightest, most focused metalcore (for lack of a better genre) I have heard in recent years.
Silent Planet are truly a cut above so many other bands in this niche blend of progressive metal, djent and metalcore that has materialized and exploded in the last ten years or so. What has put them above the rest of the crowd throughout all of their records is superior songwriting and delivery. They are willing to branch out and break norms, but do so in such a way that could only be appropriately described as graceful. It’s never non-sequitur or out of sync with the whole.
Musically, Mitchell Stark, Tommy Freckleton and Alex Camarena are outstanding. Stark (who also co-produced the album) and Freckleton provide rhythmically complex djent grooves against a backdrop of industrial samplings, synths and haunting strings that weave their way through the record. Meanwhile, Camarena (who is unquestionably my favorite metal drummer next to Tomas Haake) provides parts that are not overbearingly complex nor inanely simple, but are so firmly in the pocket that the music is complemented without much other thought.
Vocally, Garrett Russell shines on his best outing to date, including taking on some clean vocal duties. He has a unique ability to translate raw emotion and energy into his work that very few vocalists can emulate. Freckleton as well remains the main clean vocalist and while large dosages of his voice can sometimes be a tad overbearing, his vocal parts find a sweet spot between domineering and invisible.
Yes, there are a couple of points to nitpick, such as the ending of ”Alive, As A Housefire” or the fact that the closer, “Iridescent,” ends before it even really gets going. But none of the bumps are actual drawbacks. The simplicity is that if you want to listen to an album that is technically competent, musically cohesive, and just plain meaningful; look no further, that album is here.
