WINDOWS

Silent Call is a Progressive Metal band from Stockholm, Sweden that was founded in 2006 and supposedly disbanded in 2017. Yet, here they are with their 4th full-length studio album "Windows", released in October of 2019. The band was founded by Daniel Ekholm (guitar) and Patrick Ulfstrom (keyboards). They later recruited Mikael Kvist (drums), Tobbe Moen (bass) and finally, newcomer to this album, Goran Nystrom (vocals). The album has 13 tracks and comes in at over 70 minutes total. "Windows" is was actually finished in 2016 and is supposedly going to be their last.

The tracks on the album are all around the 4 ? 5 minute mark with only the last track surpassing the 6 minute mark. The music is definitely heavy metal, but with the addition of the keyboards, there is a strong, almost symphonic metal, sound to the album, that sound being completely produced by the synths. Goran's vocals pretty much fit the bill, and at times almost slips into a deep, almost expressive sound, approaching an operatic feel at times, but usually quite full and deep. The first three tracks are pretty typical sounding metal with heavy keyboards, but only small doses of progressive sound. "Shifting Shape" is a more emotional and mellower track, not bad, but nothing spectacular or memorable. "Hermetic" has a nice piano solo followed by a synth solo in the instrumental break, but they go by too quickly and then slips back into the simple formula again. "Invisible" attempts to become a little more progressive but doesn't quite hit the mark. Other than this, the music follows a very traditional pattern; intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, instrumental break (usually guitar solo), verse, chorus, end, all with thick synth washes and solid guitar riffs.

The album overall is quite samey, nothing much changes or sticks out. It reminds me more of the minor Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, and Black Sabbath albums produced in the 80s and 90s, a lot of heaviness, an attempt to be relevant, but, in the end, producing nothing really that interesting. The album is just your average heavy metal with lots of synth, and that's about it.