The Empire of Future

Though this album is the debut for power metal supergroup Silent Force, led by former Royal Hunt vocalist D.C. Cooper and Sinner guitarist Alex Beyrodt, it will likely stand as their foremost accomplishment for some time to come.

Suffice to say that it's a concept album about a future society, the focused lyrical material keeps the band more focused than on their subsequent releases. There is not a weak track on the album, and most have a very strong chorus. Musically as well, there is also a sense or urgency and purpose that has not been seen consistenly since. The songs are a lot more varied in structure and tone than the more generic power metal sounding songs the band would later produce.

The brooding intro to the title track is one such example, building up tension until the body of the song kicks in. This song also shows the incredible range that Cooper is capable of. The layered vocal tracks only reinforce the life and excitement his performance adds to the album. The instrumentals do typically take a backseat to the soaring vocals, but Beyrodt's guitar play is consisent and varied enough to be interesting.

Despite the bindings of writing lyrics around a concept, the lines never sound out of place, or forced, with the album mantaining a nice flow uninterrupted by awkward moments. The contrast of more involved songs like the title track and "New Experiment," with more up-tempo songs like "Tell Me Why" and "Six Past The Hour," keeps the album from falling into the common power metal trap of sounding monotone or repetitive.

D.C. Cooper fans take note of this album, as it is his best work outside of Royal Hunt, thus far. It's also a great album for lovers of concept albums, or power-prog metal in general.