Band : Cry For Silence

Album title : The Glorious Road

Label : Visible Noise

Distributor : Suburban

Release date : 10/03/2008

Release : CD

Guitarists Steve Sears and Alessandro "V-Man" Venturella were brought together at the age of 16 through their mutual love for Pantera and Metallica while they were still at school in Watford (some 35 kms in NW direction from the centrum of London town, and part of the Greater London Area). When they met up with drummer Ali Gordon, they feverishly started to rehearse with changing members until, with the addition of promising new singer Adam Pettit and skilled bassist Andy Saxton in the year 2000, the formation of CFS became a fact.

Somewhat bedazzled by the local frenzy they caused from just a handful of shows in their own area, the band were eager to put a couple of songs on a CD as soon as possible, and this came in the form of the band's self-released EP Through The Precious Words...which ended up being re-pressed a number of times, just to meet the demand for it! A decision was soon made that the band would break through the local scene, that they were gonna spread their wings into th' "real world"! Since then, the boys saw their official debut EP The Longest Day released through Mighty Atom in 2004, have had several songs featured on compilations, and the band's uncompromising stage presence (along with their music on the two EPs) has brought 'em the interest which would lead 'em to support/ tour with the likes of Architects, Caliban, From Autumn To Ashes, Funeral For A Friend, Hopesfall, My Chemical Romance, Nora, Poison The Well, Sepultura, Shadows Fall, Shai Hulud, Sikth, Strung Out, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Bled, The Distillers, The Hope Conspiracy, and The Haunted, to name but the most resounding ones! In 2007 the band was chosen to play both the 3 Give It A Name tour, and picked to record a BBC live session for Dan Carter on the Radio One Rock Show. Not bad at all for a band which didn't even have a record deal, and still had to record their debut full-length!

When listening to the music (which has apparently remained the same stylistically since the first gigs) on the band's full-length debut (recorded late last year in houses and studios with the aid of producers Dan and Justin of Sikth repute), I was struck by the similarity to the technical ability of such Avant-Garde heroes as (The Lord Weird) Slough Feg and Hammers Of Misfortune, rather than to the guitarists' initial influences. Granted there's a few differences, like CFS has a higher adrenaline level flowing in their up-tempo tracks, and the vocal delivery is also much more aggressive. In fact, I've already read a review in which Pettit's voice was said to be occasionally irritant. Definitely a choice of words which I would nót use...quite on the contrary. But, turning back to the music itself, it may be good to repeat the words found in the biography we got along with our promo copy (which came a couple months late, but then it did come together with a promo for another, yet to be released album by The Legacy): "The band are just as happy crunching out fists-in-the-air beatdowns as they are writing melodic outros, accompanied by iconic solos. They make passionate music with genuine conviction – not because it's cool, not to shift more records, but because they want to take emotions to their most extreme form. The heavy sections will tear your heard off, and the melodic sections will rip out your lungs. Epic riffs unfold into dramatic breakdowns as CFS takes us on a journey through pain and anger, tension and relief...". One (Belgian) reviewer places the band's music in between the likes of Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu, and From Autumn To Ashes, stressing on the band's influences coming from Metallica, Pantera, and Iron Maiden...at the same time saying CFS still have a long way to go, claiming some of the songs seem to lead nowhere, things not always sounding very fresh or original (the same fellow also wrote the comment of the singer's occasional irritant vocal signature)...before concluding the band certainly has potential, and will be received warmly by a moderate and alternative Rock/ Metal audience.

My musical appreciation about the band's music is somewhat different, and so would be my description of it. In spite of the original influences, the band does nót play a Thrash derivative...even if there's a high octane Heavy Metal involved. And while the guitarists' rhythm/ lead duels do show those typical Iron Maiden note-runseveryoncein awhile, the way it all comes out is quite different. In spite of a certain degree of "progressive" runs, the music overall is rather Avant-Garde and Alternative, with a flavouring that is both Metal ànd (real heavy) Rock, than either Thrash or Progressive. Stylistically, the band indeed stands on a lonely pedestal shared with the likes of the aforementioned Slough Feg and Hammers Of Misfortune, and while this puts the less initiated reviewers in a weird place to describe the CFS's music, it also puts the band in a "category" not usually appreciated by the public at large! I was therfore positively surprised to find British magazine Rock Sound including a track by the band on the covermount CD for their March issue, as well as hailing the band as "Band Of The Week" in their tv program! Well...we can always hópe for a growing open-mindedness in the "average" music lover!Although it's true that the band will have to fight for each fan (simply because the average Rock/ Metal listener wants his music to be of a more straight-forward kind without too many complex structures and melody changes, while the more Progressive minded music fans will probably find CFS too Avant-Gardistic and Alternative, and too dark for their taste...in essence, not along the lines of what théy describe as "Progressive"), I think that each fan gained will be one for life! Oh...going back to the vocals now: Pettit sure has a somewhat awkward vocal signature, and the hoarse touch in his frantic screams may indeed put off some people after a 46-minute listening session (which is, by the way, the length of the album). But he gets frequent (both melodic and other) backings, and occasionally even sings a little more "normal". Besides, the listener doés get a resting period during the playing of the album with the calmer instrumental "Beneath The Storm". The ensuing "Into The Sun" continues this calmer passage, at least pace-wize, and even if the vocals remain quite adrenalized   the song's pace makes for the vocal signature to become rather Hardcore-styled than before, Pettit singing in a mode which is a couple of notes lower than before. Check it out for yourself by surfing to myspace.com/cryforsilence, where said song is posted alongside the more adrenalized and up-pace album openers "Nightmare" and "A World Benign", plus a live track from the BBC sessons, and the video for album track "Cold Unholy Shores"...enough material to make up your mind about this móre than exhilerating young British band!

Me, I need no convincing anymore, my heart's been stolen, and I'm looking forward to the day when the band's material may be released on vinyl (simply because I feel that holds lónger than the whole CD shit business!). For the time being, let's add "The Glorious Dead" to that "Best Albums Of 2008"-list of mine!

98/100

Tony.