Review Elysion - Silent Scream 2009

A silent scream echoes through a dead calm and awfully silent night in complete darkness. Will it be heard by anyone, or will it pass into oblivion unnoticed. This is the question being asked by a band that goes under the name of Elysion. A band releasing their debut album now, just in time for the late christmas shoppers, but is the silent scream loud enough for it to be a valid christmas gift or will it just be drowned in the ever flowing noise of the time. Well, that is for you, gift buyer to decide. One might think that the cover is what the title implies, at least it is screaming to be noticed. It is an attractive and interesting cover that at least spikes my interest for this record.

As the cover seem to imply, this is female fronted metal, a genre that is becoming even more crowded this year with a few new actors. This is a stream in the metal river that grows ever bigger and then of course it gets even harder for new bands to be noticed. Elysion is from Greece which might be an advantage as many of these bands seem to be from The Netherlands. But of course there are some bands from other locations and this might as well be the first ever good Greek band as I cannot figure out any good Greek bands now that I sit here and write this review, sure the last record by Mystic Prophecy was good but that one is the only good one.

As I said, this band musically belongs in a crowded place of a musical genre, I can name many bands by name but I usually prefer not to. I feel there are better ways to try and describe music than counting bands like After Forever, Within Temptation, The Gathering, Coronatus, Epica, Nightwish, Echoes of Eternity and so on and so forth. They are musically in the melodic side of things with double kicked drums melodic guitar lines, heavy fast riffing and some keyboard stuff. Then there are the classical references that echo through the record. The female vocals are also there.

The record consist of several songs that together create a whole. The first song is called dreamer and it is a good song that sets the tone for the rest of the record. The songs all have a very nice flow to them, there are no parts that feel forced or interrupted, the songs just flow nicely through the entire record. And they are all crowned by a very good female singer. It is no beauty and the beast concept in this record and frankly that is a good thing as such a concept would have ruined this record, it works at times and doesn’t at other times.

Still, there is one obstacle to overcome in order to sell many records and that is the competition in this genre. Does Elysion stand out over the competition in the genre? Well, yes and no, it has some powerful good songs but musically it pretty much stands with the rest of the sub genre. The problem the band will have in order to be noticed is that their music does not immediately catch you as a listener, it requires some time which might lead to some people abandoning them too early. However, if you give the band the time they require then you will not regret it as you will have a very powerful record that will stand the test of time very well.

Still, there is one more thing I see as a problem and that is the fact that this record does not have a real hit song. It lacks that one element that makes a great record even greater and that is a bit of a shame but hey you cannot have everything, can you? Sure this thing is nitpicking but it is also an explanation as to why this record receives a five rather than a six.

I would however say that Elysion is certainly worth lending an ear. It is a great female fronted record that has a very good collection of songs. So if you like records that are not easy listening and that last for a long time this silent scream by Elysion is well worth investing some time and money in. I like this record very much at least.

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