RETROSPECTIVE

Silent Memorial operate withing the same brand of progressive metal as Dream Theater does, and on "Retrospective" you will find a lot of the elements that characterize that style, such as odd time signatures, keyboard and guitar acrobatics, complex song structures and imports from various different rock genres. There is also something about this release that reminds me of Fates Warning from their 90s period (I think that's probably the vocal style of the singer).

I do not think that Silent Memorial are just a bunch of DT clones, although the influences are very obvious. I think that Silent Memorial certainly stand out from the mass of Dream Theater follower bands in that Silent Memorial also experiment considerably with groove, and then there are less ballads on this album than on your typical Dream Theater and Dream Theater inspired albums.

I recommend this album to fans of the type of progressive metal that Dream Theater pioneered and have been spearheading ever since their firs release. Oh, I also recommend this to James Bond fans - there's a nice surprise for such fans in the title track.

(review originally posted in Danish on heavymetal.dk and in English on metalmusicarchives.com and progfreak.com)