Finland's prog metallers Silent Voices are back with their sophomore album. I find many a prog metal album too soft, but 'Infernal' is in the other side of the spectrum. As its title suggests, the album is dark, but it's also playful and makes listener nod one's head imperceptibly.

Silent Voices have managed to create music they can call their own. Being influenced by Dream Theater from the start, USA's prog metallers' heavier stuff might be practically close to this. Timo Kauppinen's guitar is grinding (as not in grindcore), shredding, squealing and heavy for a lot of time, but songs are very well composed and there's quite a lot of softer and calmer parts, making the music flow nicely. Songs are also varying and not two of them sound similar. For example, 'New World' order is full-action power metal, 'Avalon' is three-part epic, 'Disease: Man' is more modern sounding groovy song with thrash metal influences, 'Prelude...' is piano/voice introduction to 'Avalon'. The band sticks to their style and sound, so 'Infernal' is surprisingly seamless entirety. I find some padding only on the two longest songs, e.g. 'Avalon's long instrumental section. 'Fate Divided' could be more biting from the start, especially chorus which is better towards the end. And 'Disease: Man's first riff is nothing good in my ears, but songs gets a lot better. But that's the only "negative" comments about the music, so it's truly quality stuff. Music and good lyrics fit perfectly together.

Michael Henneken is skillful vocalist and while his range is quite high, he is able to transmit different feelings and also uses gruffer voice. At times, Henneken's voice reminds me of James LaBrie of Dream Theater, but Michael sounds naturally that way. Another good point is, that man can pronounce English well compared to many other Finnish vocalists! Rhythm section is tight as heck, Pasi Kauppinen's bass is heavy and flapping and Jukka-Pekka Koivisto offers a lot of different beats throughout the album. Henrik Klingerberg's (also in Sonata Arctica) keyboards have preset sounds I believe, but he's a good keyboardist who don't need to create weird stuff anyways. There's a lot of guitar and keyboard solos, but as opposed to usual dueling kind of soloing, both players present memorable solos. The Nino Laurenne production gets thumbs up, because while it is well balanced and instruments have their spaces, it kicks ass and is powerful altogether. Cover artwork is quite bad and just do not leave 'Infernal' untouched because of it! You'd do a big mistake.

All in all, 'Infernal' is my favourite Finnish metal album of year 2004. I think that's enough said, so get up and check the band out ASAP, if you have a slightest thought you might like this.

Rating: 8½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
01/08/2005 22:01