BURN IN SILENCE
"Angel
Maker" (Prosthetic; 2006)
Reviewed by Christopher J. Kelter
Burn In Silence, hailing from the fertile musical environment of Massachusetts, continue the now quite extended line of bands to impress this particular reviewer. “Angel Maker” is the band’s debut CD – and even casual listening will tell you that in Burn In Silence the ever-popular Prosthetic label has a pretty good outfit on their hands.
Merging classic melo-death, metalcore, and modern metal sounds, Burn In Silence have created “Angel Maker” as a reasonably good mix of At The Gates aggression, current Soilwork melodicisim, and the classic Fear Factory style. In “Angel Maker” I hear a lot of what makes Killswitch Engage so successful, even though I don’t for a second think that Burn In Silence sounds like their home state brethren.
Burn In Silence isn’t exactly breaking new ground, but it's all put together quite well. The ten tracks on “Angel Maker” clock in at an economic 38 minutes – this partly as a result of the band’s penchant for not wasting their time on extraneous and elongated musical passages, but also partly due to the band’s relentless pacing.
I don’t think Burn In Silence will become immensely popular, but I do think they can ride the coattails of their forbearers, establish a viable audience and fan base, and continue to gently push the envelope of the evolving melodic death metal genre. Perhaps it is best to compare Burn In Silence to Scar Symmetry not only in terms of musical style, but also in the manner in which they are part of the second wave of bands in this particular genre.
The bottom line is that I think “Angel Maker” is good, consistent, and just different enough to be a standout album in 2006 for the simple fact that I think it is catchy, listenable, and in my opinion and choices of limited time worth repeated listens.
“Angel Maker” was produced by Ken Susi (Unearth).
Burn In Silence: Chris Harrell on vocals, Mike Casavant and Alan Glassman on guitars, Max Lavelle on bass, Ben Schulkin on keyboards/electronics, and Darren Cesca on drums.
For more information visit http://www.burninsilence.tv.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2006 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights
reserved.
Revised: 18 Nov 2024 12:18:23 -0500.
