SILENT ANGEL
“Unyielding, Unrelenting”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9.5/10

Silent Angel are a Malaysian based symphonic power metal band formed in 2000 by guitarist Eric “Stormblade” Poon. After a two decade hiatus, the band reformed with a new line-up, featuring vocalists Claudia Beltrame (Degrees Of Truth) and Gracie Shona, bass player Dauz and drummer Pae, alongside founder Poon. ‘Unyielding, Unrelenting’ is the bands debut full length album released in 2023…

…consisting of ten songs across forty five hard hitting minutes. The album is brought to life with the two and a half minute ‘Unyielding Spirit’ – a symphonically cinematic atmosphere taking front and centre, wave after wave of mellowness and serenity cascading like a waterfall, building in intensity until…

…wham bam thank you Silent Angel, the album explodes into life with the fast paced power metaller ‘Against The Tides’. The speed is incredible, the band echoing the glorious European metal sound, ‘Against The Tides’ powering on with phenomenal purpose and intent. A quite fabulous opening salvo to take listeners breaths away, Silent Angel have made an emphatic entrance into the world of metal, ‘Unyielding, Unrelenting’ moving swiftly on with ‘A Destiny In Shadows’ maintaining the albums incredible start! The dual female vocal lead is remarkable, both Beltrame and Shona delivering the kind of performance that’s perfectly suited to this powerful and all consuming metal style. A metal style that blends old school heavy metal with power and symphonic metal to create an irresistible wall of sound that’s so fucking infectious! And with a dramatic slow down in pace, ‘Through Selene’s Eyes’ enters the fray with power ballad intentions – power ballads seemingly the norm these days on power metal albums. ‘Through Selene’s Eyes’ is gonna have everyone lifting their lighters high in the air and swaying from side to side, the band oozing a phenomenal level of reined in power!

Reined in power that’s bursting at the seams to be let loose, Silent Angel eventually letting it break free one minute into ‘Aurora’s Dream’ – a cacophony of thunder taking over the airways. The band are flying here, firmly planting their collective feet on the monitor, adopting the classic pose of traditional heavy metal. The head bangers of the world are gonna love ‘Aurora’s Dream’, every single one rocking their head back and forth at an extremely high rate of knots! And with the band now delivering highly head bang-able heavy metal, ‘Descent Into Infinity’ ups the ante even more – the level of head bang ability shooting right through the fucking roof! ‘Descent Into Infinity’ combines pace and power perfectly, shuddering the ground as it hurtles across the land, slowing down for nothing and no-one! And without dropping the electrifying pace, the band storm on with the high velocity galloper ‘When Dusk Meets Dawn’. A fast and frenetic foray of lightning quick heavy metal, Silent Angel appear more a traditional metal outfit than a symphonic one – and that’s not meant as a bad thing! Hell no – it’s just an observation. The metal on show is breathless, the band steaming ahead with a sky high melodious intent, delivering infectious and instantly likeable heavy metal.

Heavy metal which is quickly becoming loveable heavy metal, ‘Unyielding, Unrelenting’ marching on with the glorious metaller ‘Angel Rising’ – the band increasing the energy level to beyond maximum, ‘Angel Rising’ an unrelenting romp of all out power! The album is simply getting better song by song, Silent Angel turning in a terrific performance, ‘Tears Of Celestine’ creating a sinister. almost haunting atmosphere as it wanders in and builds tremendous tension – the styles of balladry and anthemic combining with a hymn-like aura. Too heavy to be a ballad, ‘Tears Of Celestine’ hits hard as it strides on by with its head held high – the album coming to a close with the six minutes plus ‘Twilight Of The Black Rose’. The longest song on offer by the proverbial country mile, ‘Twilight Of The Black Rose’ has it all – atmosphere, tension, anticipation and blistering speed. Not to mention the bands phenomenal melodious intent, sparkling vocals and incredible musicianship – the albums finale confirming the band as a symphonic power metal band.

Overall, a fast paced and infectious heavy metal album featuring power and symphonic metal elements along with an incredibly sharp melodic edge.

TRACKLIST

Unyielding Spirit
Against The Tides
A Destiny In Shadows
Through Selene’s Eyes
Aurora’s Dream
Descent Into Infinity
When Dusk Meets Dawn
Angel Rising
Tears Of Celestine
Twilight Of The Black Rose

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