THE EYES OF THE SHADOW

In my previous review of Italian Exawatt I compared them to Symphony X but that was just slightly. Listening at first two (especially second) tracks of this debut from Dutch Silent Edge I can only say that the similarity is even more evident. Again the vocals are totally different from Russell Allan but contrary to Exawatt's lead vocalist Dutch singer Willem Verwoert is a competent vocalist.

It seems Symphony X is a large source of inspiration to many recent prog metal bands. Does this mean Silent Edge is just another clone ? No, I wouldn't go that far. Third track Wasted Lands for instance goes into different territory though SX yet shines through a bit at times. First three tracks are pretty good warm ups for the rest of the album which seems to get better as it progresses. The songs are a nice mix of accessible metal and obvious progressive metal.

So not really anything new under the sun with Silent Edge but still I tend to go with Bogdan's rating (4 stars) simply because it's a quality album all the way without weak fillers. Highlight is the brilliant song "For Ancient Times" which is even much better than the (very good) rest. So 4 stars it will be but recommended for lovers of great (prog) metal more than lovers of ultimate originality.