By Phil Cooper
Melodic death metal four-piece Silent Fracture are here with debut album, ‘Hunger: Lust: Death: Pray’. Having already released two EPs thus far, 2016’s self-titled effort and last years ‘Kill Season’ the band have developed their sound and see this as the right time to unveil their first album. Promising to pack a punch with weighty riffs, strong breakdowns and melodies all woven together into a single package, what can be expected over the ten tracks offered up?
Kicking things off is current single ‘Nightmare’. After a brief build up intro with layered string pads creating an engaging soundscape the full force of the band launches in. A chaotic maelstrom of distorted guitars, pummelling drums, groove laden bass and throat tearing vocals takes control of the listeners ears and refuses to let go. It’s such an instant weighty hit following the string pads that it takes a moment to adjust and find the order in the chaos. It’s there though, there is a solid foundation groove led by the rhythm section upon which the heavy riffs and vocals are layered. There’s a hardcore edge to the vocal delivery that matches perfectly with the musical aggression and drives home the heaviness of the Silent Fracture sound. As an album opener it works to set up everything that can be expected, as a single release it’s an excellent introduction to the band.
With barely pause for breath, the listener is thrown into ‘The Wicked’. Once again there’s a hardcore edge to the vocals but matched with some low-end gutturals that adds extra weight. The riff work is catchier than the opening track and provides a good mid anchor between the vocals and solid drive of the rhythm section. The breakdown highlights the melodic undertones of the band’s sound once more led by the guitars creating the hook line to pull the listener in. From here on in, there’s not a lot of deviation from the musical aspects that have been presented with the opening two tracks. However, the album in no way gets stagnant or boring. Indeed, the listeners attention is fully retained throughout the following eight tracks. Tracks like ‘Lions and Lambs’, ‘Disengaged’ and ‘Hellbound Agony’ represent further stand out moments within the hard-hitting tempest of sonic assault that makes up this album.
At first listen some may miss many of the underlying melodic devices used within the song-writing and in turn miss the many levels to unpack within what is on offer. Possibly understandable as the overriding feature of the album is that it’s a heavy weight bruiser. Not only musically, but also lyrically there’s an edge to the lyrics that deal with personal life battles and struggles. The mistake that could be made is for people only giving the album a passing chance. If the listener is not pulled in by some of the tracks already mentioned, give it another run through and there will be more to enjoy once one breaks through the sonic wall of noise.
As mentioned, there’s a lot to enjoy within this sledgehammer of a debut. Combining colossal sounding guitar riffs, dominating drums and a powerful groove with heavy weight vocals on top, ‘Hunger: Lust: Death: Pray’ offers up a sonic punch to the face. However, if the listener wants more, they only have to listen a bit further to be engaged by some of the well-crafted melodies and excellent song-writing that ties the whole album together.
- ‘Hunger: Lust: Death: Pray’ is released on 27 September.
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