Age of Silence – Acceleration
(Age of Silence is spelled: 4ge of sil3nce)
Sometimes when I have a stack of new CDs, I drop them in the tray without even looking at them. My listening thus begins with no pre-conceptions based on my knowledge of the band or the artwork. So after about 30 seconds of this Age of Silence disk, I immediately thought, “Hey, Solefald has a new album.” Turned out I was wrong of course, but Lazare’s vocals have such a distinctive character, both in terms of sound and stylistic choices, that it’s really hard not to think of Solefald when listening. I liked Solefald’s “Pills Against the Ageless Ills” from 2001, but not enough to seek out their next album, “In Harmonium Universali.” I don’t like Age of Silence nearly as much as I like Solefald, though this is listenable. It’s just a bit dull. Too frequently, Lazare makes simple vocal choices – specifically in 3-4 songs when he leaps up to the tonic note on a strong beat. When he’s more adventurous, the music works. His sense of harmony is unique, though, and there’s something to listen for in almost every song. Unfortunately, he’s singing atop weak material, as the guitars are mostly straightforward and the music is a bit too consistently mid-paced for my taste. A bit more variety in those elements would make this a more exciting album. – Jeff Herriot
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