silver end - beyond limits

Silver End

Beyond Limits
self-released; 2013

3.5 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

The Silver End is a four-piece band from Norway that sound like an American hard rock band not unlike that of Linkin Park or Breaking Benjamin or even a hint of Tool. Truth be told none of these bands are the first thing I would pop in to listen to but I have listened to some early Linkin Park that I thought was at least respectable. I have the same feelings for this group. The music isn’t my favorite genre but I can’t deny that a couple of songs on their debut album, Beyond Limits, caught my attention. First and foremost the production sounds radio-ready.  There's a lot going on here (especially with the distorted guitars and slamming drums) but everything sounds like it’s just in the right place. The vocals are clear and powerful, the low-end is defined and the guitars sound exceptional. Fourteen songs deep this album has a lot to it and by the time you get to the 14th track you might be spent. I would have preferred a ten-track album since a lot of the songs have a similar feel. Despite the high track count none of the songs go past the five-minute mark which makes it easier to digest.

After a brief intro we are presented with “Learning the Lesson” which contains some pretty intense guitar riffs and enough variation within the song itself to keep things interesting. They do have a lot of parts within the songs in which there are multiple breakdowns. It was obvious after listening to the first song that The Silver End wants to keep the listener engaged. “Make It Better” felt like straight up 80’s heavy metal for a while. The opening riff combines phased out guitars and palm muting before the song starts to feel a bit more modern (I think it’s the vocals as well as the heavy dose of reverb on the lead). One of the ballads on the album is “Breaking Free” which has lyrics you have heard before and progressively becomes more and more grandiose. As I listened to the rest of the songs they started to feel like the same song and contain the same formula. However what was nicely executed on these songs   was that after my repeated listens the album starts to separate from their cluster. The individual songs start to stand out and  you begin to have favorites.

In the end what they made was a cohesive album that has number of well-written songs that slightly overstays its welcome. It’s a good start and I’m pretty sure as time goes on they will continue to refine their skill and develop a more original sound.

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