REVEAL THE CHANGE

Silent Voices was founded in 1995 by guitarist Timo Kauppinen, bassist Pasi Kauppinen, drummer Jukka-Pekka Koivisto and keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg. At the time their main influences were Dream Theater and Rush. A couple of years later the line-up was completed when Michael Henneken joined in on vocals. They may have had a break for a little while (six years since the last album) but they are now back with their fourth full-length release. Henrik and Pasi are also members of Sonata Arctica, and instead of replacing Michael (who left after the last album) they have instead brought in some guests to help them out, so vocals on this album are provided by Mats Lev'n (Therion, Yngwie Malmsteen), Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica), Mike Vescera )Loudness, Yngwie Malmsteen, Obsession) and Mike DiMeo (Masterplan, Riot). To ensure that they got the sound right, it was mastered by Ted Jensen (Bon Jovi, Dream Theater, Megadeth).

The results is something that is progressive metal through and through, and will appeal to fans of both that genre and of those who want their metal to be melodic and hard hitting and may not normally think of prog as being their thing. The musical quartet behind this album have been playing together for years and it shows, as they trade runs and are tighter than a Mayan wall. The drum fills are wonderful, with real inventiveness that add to the overall sound without detracting from it, while Timo can surely shred with the best of them. Henrik has a very fluid style, moving between different sounds to get the best from each section of a song while Pasi can also take the lead when he wants to, but is often to be found at the back providing wonderful counterpoint to the main metallic proceedings.

Needless to say, with singers of this standard the overall result is nothing short of superb, and here we have a prog metal album that is probably more of the latter than the former, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing and here we have something that is hard hitting and fun throughout. If you haven't come across this band before, and it has been a while since their last album to be fair, then you owe it to yours ears to get this now.

Sometimes I have a difficult time with a band simply because I don't feel any inspiration at all. You know what I mean: That band that has all the skill in the world, but for some reason they never choose to explore. The new release from Silent Voices, "Reveal the Change", is disappointing to me on this level, I think.

Don't get me wrong. This band has talent. However, they never offer anything out of the standard Dream Theater-esque prog metal. Now, I must quickly point out that this band doesn't showboat. They aren't fighting each other for solo time or anything. However, we get the standard caterwauling vocalist, the complex guitar work, the atmospheric keys that never do much, and the drumming that feels, well, just there. The bass is mostly missing in action, as is usually the case with these bands. You can hear it slightly better than other bands, and it does seem to have character. However, the mix just eliminates it for the most part. That's a real shame.

As I said, this band doesn't showboat all that much. That, at least, is a good thing in my book. The band does exhibit feelings of unity and oneness. They play together, for the most part, and they do have compositional skills that I feel outweigh many bands. They change their tone, too, such as the interesting change from standard prog metal in "The Fear of Emptiness" to a darker, lower feeling in "No Turning Back". The changes are subtle, however, so don't expect wild swings in style. This is standard prog metal, after all.

There really isn't much to say, honestly. If you've heard one DT clone, you've heard them all. Remember, I hate using that term, but it's pretty inescapable with this band, even though they've been around since the mid-90's. Their sound is a bit tired and old, but still enjoyable, and I must say that I enjoyed this album more than Dream Theater's latest. Anyways, this album won't be any kind of epiphany to you, and it won't surprise you. However, if you enjoy this type of music, you'll love it.