Genre : Post-black metal
Released : October 15th, 2021
Label : Gilead Media
FFO : Liturgy, Fluisteraars, Ne Obliviscaris
"Ward of Roses" is the debut album of American experimental black-metallers The Silver which includes members of the death metal band Horrendous as well as the doom metal band Crypt Sermon.
On "Ward of Roses", The Silver offer a surprisingly eclectic style of black metal that puts an emphasis on bleak romanticism by incorporating elements of prog, doom, goth rock and soaring, theatrical clean vocals that clash with the raw grit and grime of emotionally charged black metal.
Black metal in its traditional sense, isn't a sub-genre I've ever been too overly fond of or even really interested in for that matter.
But I absolutely love it when bands bring new elements to the subgenre by mixing in different styles that you would usually not expect to hear in black metal.
That along with a more modern production which makes every sonic element easily identifiable and plays to the strengths every musician brings to the table instead of feeding in to the stereotype of lo-fi, garage-quality "trve" BM, makes for a truly engaging and original listening experience in my opinion.
And that is exactly what The Silver have to present on this debut.
The performances can be simultaneously gripping, chilling, dreamy and uplifting while the arrangements display some artistic creativity more often than not and the overall album's flow and atmosphere showcases a strong grasp on the importance of theatricality in this style of music without ever coming off as corny or too over-the-top.
Raw, emotional and creative, this is certainly a highlight in terms of black metal for me this year and I would definitely recommend it to anyone struggling to get into this genre of music or to black metal fans who can enjoy some experimentation with the sub-genre's formula!
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