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The Gauntlet: Age Of Silence |
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Age Of Silence Album Review
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Tracklist
1. Auditorium of Modern Movements
2. Acceleration
3. Concept of Haste
4. Song for D. Incorporated
5. Green Office and the Dark Desk Drawer
6. Flow at 09:30 a.m.
7. Of Concrete and Glass
8. 90 Degree Angles
9. I No Longer Know If I Am Mad
10. Synthetis, Fabricated, Calculated
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Age of Silence is a Norwegian band led by Hellhammer—the drummer for Mayhem, Arcturus, and countless other bands—and fellow Winds band mate Andy Winter who create an album similar in composition to the last Winds and Arcturus album, but without the classical elements. Extant and Kobbergaard play basic Goth, Doom, and thrash guitar riffs with dynamics inserted appropriately. Hellhammer's drums are as sharp as ever, and Andy Winter's keyboard passages add a few spooky moments into the mix to help set the album's tone.
Lazarre's voice is somewhere between Lars Eric Si of Winds and Garm Knut of Arcturus, literally. He voice sounds like the noise a person makes when he gets the wind knocked out from an uppercut to the stomach. Lazarre just doesn't have the epic, operatic voice of an ICS Vortex (Arcturus, Dimmu Borgir) or Garm Knut to pull off the layered, choir like vocals AOS desire. Not only could the band benefit from Garm's powerful vocals, they should also take notes on how Garm puts poetry into motion with his primary band, Ulver. Ulver employs electronic, ambient, and jazz elements to illustrate Garm's poetry or whomever he is reciting. AOS uses a style more akin to Winds without the classical elements. This style fits Winds' spiritual lyrics quite well, but makes a major mistake in not highlighting the sarcastic and imaginative words Lazarre creates.
It's a shame the music doesn't do Lazarre's 'hell mall' poem much justice because it is image provoking and wickedly funny. Lazarre has a firm grasp on his poetic devices. For instance, his use of alliteration is devilishly delightful in such word pairings as 'Diabolos Daily' and 'Beelzebuns. Bon Appe?tit.' His use of imagery to describe this twisted shopping spree recalls the late John Ritter's black comedy 'Stay Tuned.' A classic example would be found in the verse from 'T Mr. M, Man of Muzak,' where Lazarre writes, 'Attention all shoppers. Our hardware department offers very good deals on barbeque equipment. All deals are today and the supply is limited, so be fast.'
The poem in itself warrants a few bills to be thrown AOS's way. The music is tight and at times memorable. But with such a deliciously dark-humored poem and talented musicians, the instruments should have done a better job complimenting the poem. This should have been so much more. Clocking in at just over sixteen minutes, AOS may just have run out of ideas.
Review by: Darren Cowan
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