In Silence They March
In Silence They March
| Track Listing 1. Time Flight 2. Cursed and Damned 3. Son of Odin 4. The Grim Reaper's Fate 5. The Undead King 6. In Silence They March 7. Adrian Blackwood 8. Witch Hunter 9. The Rising 10. Knights of Prey 11. Somewhere Over the Sun 12. Winternight Shark 2000 |
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| More Crystal Eyes: Crystal Eyes - World of Black and Silver (1999) |
Related Releases (In sound): Running Wild - Blazon Stone (1991) Running Wild - Pile of Skulls (1992) Running Wild - Masquerade (1994) |
| If there's one thing never to be expected from Crystal Eyes is
them being original. Their relentless ripping off of ancient big gun speed bands like
Running Wild is as constant as mainstays in life like oxygen, running water, 5 o'clock
traffic, and bad hair days. But judging by their more than decent debut release,
"World of Black and Silver", it is hoped that their music might not be fresh and
new, but atleast it's power-like metal served up with riffs that are catchy as hell and a
shoddy production that induces waves of tingly nostalgia. A promising release, showing an
outfit that shuns the unique but makes up for it in a display of energetic life, enough to
recommend their debut to the masses without your sanity being questioned too severely. Even though they have had a couple of years to contemplate things and plan out their next round of musical attack, it seems that they have learned nothing over time, as their followup is duller and heaps more irritating than "WoBaS". Crystal Eyes have hopped into the unstable boat with the annoying Italian bands, Secret Sphere and the latest steaming pile from Labyrinth immediately come to mind. Even their most inspirational tune only inspired me to mute the stereo. What happened to make "In Silence They March" such a disappointment? For starters there's the refusal to evolve, the most unignorable example is the pathetic production that gives the disc a "we recorded this in our home with a portable tape recorder" feel that was exceptable on the debut but there's no excuse for what should be an older, wiser, more experienced band to put out something that sounds this shallow. Speaking of shallow, how about examining the lyrics? Serviceable enough, and easily smashing anything from Secret Sphere, they cover some interesting topics including songs about a man getting a job as the Grim Reaper, hunting witches, and some smatterings of evilness. Mikael Dahl's voice is much like the lyrics, not fantastic, a little brittle on the edges but his screams are fairly nifty. But after spending time with the album a few songs start to grow on you... it's something in those guitar riffs, perhaps they have been bathed in a potion to force you to like them. The axe is wielded as easily as a warrior handles his best blade, and despite the fact they are mostly regurgitated Running Wild fare, they still reach out and grab the listener when they least expect it, and atleast in that aspect, Crystal Eyes has managed to atleast come toe to toe with their debut, but even these brief moments of catchiness are few and far between, unlike on "WoBaS" where flashes of near-brilliance were more the standard rather than the exception. |
| 1. "Time Flight" - So
it begins, described as a "fast heavy metal song" by the band, that pretty much
describes it. Some of the heavier sections are catchy and overall its very similiar to the
opening track for "WoBaS". It's the first of many songs on here that could have
been quite good if some changes had been made, but instead it feels like a raw demo song
for a fledgling band that wants to be Gamma Ray. 2. "Cursed and Damned" - Paper thin lead vocals, crappy backup vocals, and the 'garage' production sink this too fast song before it even has a chance, which is a good thing since this one should have been dumped into the nearest grave and buried in a hurry before they tacked this thing on the cd. Yuck. The laughably silly sounding high pitched scream can cause brain damage. 3. "Son of Odin" - Total Running Wild ripoff, but what else did you expect? The riffs are in that happy, almost Irish feel, and is almost a direct lift from RW's "Lions of the Sea", but despite being taken from a truly superb little track, the novelty quickly dissipates leaving the listener grasping at straws to find something for their interest to hang onto. 4. "The Grim Reaper's Fate" - Fast speed metal, cute lyrics, more Running Wild influences. 5. "The Undead King" - Short and acoustic, proving that Dahl can sing as long as those dreadful backup choruses are not tampering with his lead. It's simply the opener for the next tune, but sadly is the best offering on the album, and it's a shame they didn't learn something from recording this track. 6. "In Silence They March" - The skeleton undead king is leading his armies of the living dead. Sounds like a good premise for a song eh? This is thunderously heavy, a pure slab of metal, Dahl getting gritty with the vox, and the guitars following suite. Then the syrupy chorus kicks in, with those icky background vox and ruins the whole thing. 7. "Adrian Blackwood" - This one is about a bloodthirsty prince, and sounds like "Lions of the Sea" again. So irritating I thought blood was going to pour out of my ears while trying to listen to it. 8. "Witch Hunter" - Here they try something different, in the style of 80s Black Sabbath (Martin and Dio eras), the riffs are sludge heavy with that Iommi-ish bite. Different is good and they manage to pull this one off nicely. 9. "The Rising" - Is it all starting to sound the same again or is it just me? More galloping, fast melodic stuffies, and a copycat of most everything else to 'grace' the disc so far. 10. "Knights of Prey" - Lyrics drip with evilness and seem to poke fun at the joyful, rollicking pace the song takes with a laughing edge of gleefulness. The vocals suffer, bordering on annoyingness, and the drums have this disjointed sound that makes them nearly unbearable, both are buried underneath a piss poor production that will have audiophiles screaming in pain. 11. "Somewhere Over the Sun" - With the breakneck speed toned down a little, this one comes across as a bit more careful of a power metal track until the dismal chorus, however the rest of the song is not too bad with some gigantically cool riffs that save it from the same fate others have fallen. It's the vocals that help sink this one, the background vocals too often sound identical on each song, and this is no exception. When Dahl's voice is alone in the mix, it's strong and held together well. Towards the ending, the solo and calm reflecting parts are done very nicely and makes you wonder what this would have sounded like with more power, better production and a heap of tweaking. What might have been.... 12. "Winternight" - Originally written in 1996, this one has been in the works for quite awhile, according to the band, it went from a 10 minute long song that "started beautiful and then just flipped out" to this closing piece for the disc that describes a snowy winter night complete with howling winds and strange lyrics. Dahl's 'death metal' vocal twists are interesting, and the song is decent enough, but suffers under the less than passable production. When the background vocals start up (for the umpteenth time) I'm about ready to put the cd out of its misery... |
So to sum things up, Crystal Eyes have hit upon a gold mine of catchy licks that are relentless in releasing the listener in their grasp, "Sons of Odin", "Witch Hunter", "Somewhere Over the Sun" are all just boiling over with the kind of rhythm riff heavy guitar magic that Running Wild once held in their power in the early years of the past decade, but this outfits decides to estinguish the raging fire they have built with poor songwriting, amazingly ANNOYING background vocals that if they had been annhilated before the disc's release would have improved it tenfold, and an awful production job that rivals that of Italian unknowns Highlord and Iron Fortress. Even those that enjoyed the promising "World of Black and Silver" will most likely have to fish to find bright spots in the blackened murky sea of unoriginality. Perhaps the next disc will see the band truly finding themselves and their place in the metal world, instead of lifting from some of the best and changing it into a lifeless ball of irritation. For "In Silence They March", if you have heard one song, you have heard them all. Ratings and Wrap Up: |
