| Artist |
| Scream Silence |
| Title |
| Scream Silence |
| Format/Cat |
| CD |
| Label |
| Out Of Line |
| Style |
| Soft Metal |
| Date of review |
| 26th March 2012 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 6/10 |
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On the face of it, it seems Out Of Line have really widened their remit by signing this quintet as their music isn’t so much the ‘alternative rock’ tag that’s been applied to them elsewhere, more a kind of commercial soft rock. On the other hand, of course, this sort of music potentially has a much wider appeal than their usual output with an appeal that could stretch as far as middle-aged music fans who don’t mind dipping their toes in rock waters once in a while & who could seriously begrudge them any extra sheckels that might bring their way? Having been around since 1998, they’ve also got some staying power & their expertise is producing rich-sounding tracks cannot be doubted, likewise their musicianship, which is maintained at a high level throughout. So if you like your rock unthreatening & easy on the ear you’ll find a lot to love here with vocalist Hardy Fieting at times sounding as if he belongs in a boy band! It does have a slight exotic promise initially, thanks to the sitar sounds that crop up right at the beginning of the opening ‘Wayfare’ before it shows its true colours as an emotional albeit very polished metal offering while the mellotron-like sounds that underlay a couple of tracks add a certain atmosphere but even if ‘New Flood’ does feature some edgier guitar riffs, comparatively speaking, the album as a whole would fit into MTV’s playlists quite nicely. This is particularly true of the MOR pop of ‘Dreamers Court’ which could almost be a Coldplay number with plenty of anthemic elements that should see a sea of arms being waved from side to side whenever it’s played live while ‘Surd’ & ‘Blushed’ both have a similarly commercial sound that makes even the likes of Zeromancer sound like Slayer, although both are at least pretty lively with a slight underlying tension & a nicely full sound in the latter case, unlike ‘Downside’ which has all the right ingredients for a full-on symphonic metal experience but is so inoffensive all the power is leeched out of it & ends up being bland & forgettable in the extreme. Things do improve somewhat towards the end as some effective flute-like sounds give ‘Solitude’ an initially sultry feel while the sumptuous musical web ensures a nicely reflective mood that reflects the title before ‘Cocoon’ takes this one step further with a fine performance from Fieting that compliments the music’s melancholic number, even if the acoustic guitar & flute combination does make it sound like a clean version of Stairway to Heaven with all the edges taken out!
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