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‘Shattered Shores’ is the third full length from the Canadian symphonic/melodic, Death Metal quintet Silent Line, and follows their 2012 album ‘Born Of A Dying Star’. For this third offering, Silent Line have gone for a concept album and the lyrics “Revolve around the themes of overcoming hardships, anxiety, and ‘weathering the storm’ in order to persevere. A single person is referred to throughout the album and everything is told from their point of view as they wander, stuck on the island, unsure of how they got there, and unsure if they will ever leave.” With the album title referencing “Being stranded and trapped forever as the shores become more eroded and the reality of isolation sets in”.
There’s a lot to like about the release, that winning Death Metal combination of bleak, reflective lyrics, here delivered in two layers of excellent harsh vocals; deep growls along with a higher hiss, set to a predominantly up tempo backdrop that has a symphonic edge. There’s also an abundance of catchy riffs and great lead work. There are some cleans, but there aren’t too many, and they are in context.
The album opens on ‘Frost Of The Night’, and although the extended haunting intro does take up almost two minutes, it feels very relevant and continues beneath the onslaught of layered harsh vocals, punchy riffs, soaring melody from the lead, and clean backing harmonies .
The tempo picks up for the catchy ‘Erosion’, my favourite track of the album. This faultless offering has superb melodic segments, great lead work, punchy up tempo riffs that have a hauntingly memorable quality, completed by superb growls along with a constant battery from the drums. Even though there is a desolate quality to the lyrics, it feels quite the opposite.
Another track which really struck a chord with me is ‘Black And White’. I love the dark reminiscence of the lyrics, which, despite the depth of growl, are very clearly delivered. This is all set to a superb up tempo backdrop of addictive riffs and melody, making it a track that stays with you.
The title track is split into two; the predominantly up tempo ‘Shattered Shores I: Timeless Night’, and the atmospheric ‘Shattered Shores II: A New Beginning’, which opens slower on a mix of keys and riffs. It has a nicely punctuated construction, and the cleans work well alongside the growls but it was just a bit too long at eight minutes, and I thought it started to re-cover old ground a bit towards the end, however, I did like it.
‘Summersong’ opens on acoustic and haunting keyboards, and has a great riff that running through it, building and becoming quite crushing towards the end. There is also excellent emotive lead work that dominates second half nicely. ‘Starfall’ has crushing opening riffs that are well balanced against the lead and growling vocals.
After brief keyboard led intro, ‘Into The Chasm’ continues on some powerfully atmospheric lead work, before getting down to business with an addictive mix of catchy, punchy riffs and growls.
‘The Faceless Shadow’ opens on a beautifully haunting melody, the tempo building with rapid riffing and a good mix of harsh vocals and clean harmonies. Swift, flawless direction switching and drum work, which adds a lot to the overall sound. I really liked the clean, almost folky harmonies midway that set the track up well for some great lead work.
On to the final track, ‘Embrace The End’. Although I am not too keen the cleans on this track, they are in context, and the track picks up as the harsh vocals arrive and the lead work here, as everywhere, is excellent, exciting, and upbeat, nobly supported by a powerful battery of drums.
‘Shattered Shores’ should be of interest to fans of; Dark Tranquillity, Amon Amarth, At the Gates, and even Insomnium or Kalmah. The album is independently released, and available from Amazon, CD Baby, Google Play, iTunes and Band Camp.
Review Jools Green
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