Though Greece’s The Silent Rage is described by many online sources as “melodic power metal,” it is the band’s more traditional heavy metal influences that distinguish it from any perceived peers. Temperance and later Power Quest they are not. Think Freternia and you’re getting warmer. This is my comfort zone. Business in the front. And just the slightest hint of party in the back. These guys know how to have a good time. But they don’t spoil it. Sweet spot achieved.
Despite that balance, or perhaps because of it, Nuances of Life, the band’s sophomore release, feels very much like vocalist Michalis Rinakakis’s vehicle. Not that the twin guitar attack of Nikos Siglidis and Nick Sarbanis isn’t a prominent feature here (on “Another Fallen Dreamland,” alone), but Rinakakis’s voice is front and center. So if you don’t like this guy’s voice—and you’d be crazy not to—this’ll be a short dip in the shallow pool for you. The rest of us sane people will be over there in the deep end, on the giant swan and pink flamingo floats. High notes. Low notes. Shrieks. Bellows. Rinakakis keeps you on your toes, that’s for sure. And it’s pretty darn delightful, I might add.
What appeals most to me about this album and, by extension, this band, aside from the pink and purple on the cover, of course, is that no matter what tag you affix to this, it’s inarguably heavy metal. There are no detours. Even the slower “Black Monday” absolutely rips with solos in the last two minutes or so. Impressive for a nearly hour-long album. The commitment to a sound, an ethos. The utter lack of gimmickry. Getting straight to the point with album-opener “The Serpent Lord.” Appropriately aggressive song titles (“Carve Your Rage,” “Code of Destruction”). These guys are checking the boxes.
You wouldn’t know it by the presentation, necessarily, but The Silent Rage are certainly more traditionalist than most bands proudly waving the power metal flag. And that’s a good thing. Power metal is a spectrum. Not that I don’t enjoy that more melodic and Euro power side of that spectrum. Because there’s a time and a place for Fellowship, and that time is most any hour of any day and that place is Earth. But, variety being the spice of life that it is, I do enjoy my fair share of no guts, no glory power metal. Thankfully, The Silent Rage deliver the goods. More than 50 minutes of it. No filler. In crystal clear fashion. Thumbs way up on this one.
