Silent Planet
When the End Began

So, lets see what comes out of the silent planet today, or rather what came out but as light takes its time to travel through space I can only see what came out in November at this time. When the End Began is the third album coming from Silent Planet, a band that has taken their name from CS Lewis’ stories. It is an American band from California and they released their debut in 2014 and the second album in 2016, and with the third coming in 2018 it is probably not too far-fetched to think that the next album will be out in 2020. By some this band has been described as Christian metal and they are featured on such charts, fortunately they do not preach as some bands described in that way do, some members are however of that faith, which is probably not too surprising considering that they are from the US where most people see themselves as such. But lets not end up there, they are more described as progressive metalcore and their new album doesn’t feature the most attractive artwork ever.

I think they can be compared with many metalcore bands, not much sets them aside with vocals that are typical of the genre both the screams/growls and the clean vocals. The songs themselves are not that different either, there are some progressive touches as well as some post-rock features but the all-encompassing sound is of the metalcore kind. But the album is well-produced and it has good variation and depth making it feel well-rounded in terms of playing time. We get fourteen tracks on the album and the playing time is just short of 50 minutes.

Some say that they also write lyrics that are thought-provoking featuring tough subjects like war or psychology and are sometimes of biblical character, I haven’t really felt like listening to the lyrics that much. I think metalcore growling tend to be a bit difficult to make out words from anyway and hence I haven’t really listened but it seems as though the titles of the songs give away a fair deal on the band’s storytelling abilities. And even though I didn’t really make much of the lyrics I think that the vocals are pretty decent for what we get and there are some Birthday Massacreish sounds that I like, mostly in Vanity of Sleep which is one of the more memorable additions to the album. I also like the ending track but the album as a whole isn’t really particularly memorable, it doesn’t really stand aside from the many other similar bands that exists in this genre. Perhaps they are slightly better than most when it comes to the sound because that is really good but they build songs like most others and sing like most others and play like most others, meaning that not much sets them apart.

It is an album I listen to, nod from appreciation when listening, and it feels fairly enjoyable. But when the final word and punctuation is placed in this review I will probably forget all about it, like I have done with most albums I have written about. Fans of the metalcore genre will probably see it differently though and if you are one of them I recommend that you take a look at this album, as chances are that you will like When the End Began.

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