Silent Killer

The title of the album Silent Killer is partly a lie: it’s a killer album, but it’s far from silent and should be listened to loudly. This is the rare album that not only made me discover a band, but also a genre.

Silent Killer is the 9th album for the veteran rockers. It’s on the short side, just above the half-hour mark, and that includes an introduction. The upside is that we end up with a solid album with no filler.

Musically, the album fits together very well, it has a sound that is coherent from beginning to end, without ever feeling redundant. Each song contribute to the album’s identity, while being instantly recognizable from the others; none of them gets lost in the album, each one commands attention. And it features some great guitar works, the kind that’s in your face. The melodies are catchy without being corny. The structure of the songs are generally simple – verse chorus verse solo – but it doesn’t try to be anything else other than kickass metal, nothing pretentious, nothing to prove.

What sets the album apart, however, are the vocals. Ralf Gyllenhammar is a singer who has a range, the kind of voice that is never entirely clean and can descend into real harshness at times, but also one who can put emotions behind the lyrics.

Among the nine songs (excluding Givin’, the introduction), some are more excellent than others. Libertà is the clear stand-out song, the one that hooked me on this album (and this band in general), it’s immediate musical pleasure, the kind of song that makes you wanna bang your head and sing, the kind that has a killer riff and a badass chorus.

Highly recommended.