Silent Line - Shattered Shores Review

               Concept albums are always something special to talk about, instead of just being song after song generally with no rhyme or reason for the lyrics from one song to the next, concept albums tell a story with each song being a new chapter. Silent Line have written what is possibly the most Canadian concept album ever with their new album “Shattered Shores” being about isolation in the cold. This is an album that shows inspiration and how unique an album can easily be, all you need to do is find the edge of your comfort zone and push past it.

                                                  

                A small mention of the story, it’s about dissertation. Our character is stranded on an island, alone, freezing. The constant reoccurrence of the cold, of frost, of night, is enough the freeze the soul of even the more warm hearted person.

                “Shattered Shores” is Silent Line’s first attempt at a concept album, although it doesn’t exactly sound it. The album starts off strong with “Frost of the Night” but it’s the second song “Erosion” that really shines and draws the listener it. “Erosion” is a more fast pace song filled with melodic riffs and a surprisingly catchy chorus, even if you don’t understand what front man Mike Burton is saying without reading the lyrics off a page. Speaking of Mr. Burton, what’s the closest you’ve ever heard to a band sounding like Children Of Bodom? I’m only asking because “Black and White” sounds like a Bodom song and some of the vocals even sound like Alexi Laiho himself! It’s quite eerie.

                Skip a couple songs down and you’ll find “Summersong” which opens with an acoustic guitar and choral singing before kicking into the heavy. “Summersong” takes complete 180s constantly, after some insanely harsh Death Metal vocals and instrumentals, clean singing and acoustic guitars come back and show the contrast this band can take to effect the emotion of the listener, you can almost hear desperation in the vocals with the changes, and the character knows the end is coming. “Shattered Shores II: A New Beginning” take us on another journey, a journey through the night, a journey to who knows where but its somewhere in the freezing darkness. This song features one of my favourite riffs in it, the moment the song speeds up you’ll hear it, I don’t know what it is but it’s an incredibly attractive riff. Any fans of The Faceless here? They might not do their clean vocals too often but the chorus section of this song sounds a lot like The Faceless cleans, although the melodic riffs in the background make make “Shattered Shores II” far better.

                I personally am a huge fan of concept albums, Wintersun, King Diamond, Rhapsody, all bands that have written some outstanding concept albums. Although King can make the hair on the back of my neck stand tall, sitting here with the lyrics and the music Silent Line are chilling me right to the bone. This is an album of sheer magnitude, a concept album with a story to tell and one that does it well, they say if a story is written well you can see it in your head, well this story even comes with a soundtrack to accompany the mental movie.

4.5/5

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