The Allure

Though every band starts out the same way - being unsigned - it’s still unnerving coming across a really obscure band who have remained unsigned for several years and have even had to resort to self-releasing successive full-length efforts. I’m not really familiar with the story of Silent Winter, a one man doom metal band created solely by Kevin Lawry. I don’t know whether he has purposely self-released his own records because he prefers it that way, as some musicians do, or whether it was a last resort due to his inability at finding the appropriate label with which to release his recordings through. ‘The Allure’, the sophomore effort from Lawry’s Silent Winter, is only source of material I’m heard from the band who are actually local to me, which is why I decided to listen to Silent Winter in the first place. I can’t say I’m overly impressed, though I’ve heard far worse in my time in the metal industry. As a reviewer, you have to be prepared to tackle the worst of the worst because that’s what being a reviewer entails. Silent Winter, although rather uninteresting on all fronts, inspire enough admiration in me to warrant leniency in regards to the troublesome effort of ‘The Allure’.

I admire the fact that this man has chosen to create his own sole entity, a difficult task for any musician (especially in the doom field), and I admire the fact that he is persistently pursuing this musical adventure despite the trouble with finding a label and recognition. From what I’ve read of the few reviews that exist on this bands material, previous efforts have heavy keyboard sections and am emphasis on the death/doom hybrid which has forged a successful career for many a band since its creation several years ago. There isn’t much emphasis on keyboards this time so, instead, Lawry is forced to drive the atmospherics of this record through the use of the guitars. The other elements are pretty much deemed irrelevant in comparison to the guitars, which is a section that does require some praise, specifically on songs like ‘With Weary Heart’, which really hammers home the emphasis on a melancholic feeling through the guitars alone. The bass, if it exists, is very hard to distinguish amidst the heavy distortion of the guitars and the lacklustre production values. Since Lawry himself recorded this, it isn’t a surprise that the bass has gone largely missing from affairs. Besides which, the lazy, slow moving material doesn’t really require an emphasis on bass when the guitars are stealing the limelight away from every other element anyway.

The death/doom hybrid was never meant to exemplify how to technicalities can turn your music from ordinary to brilliant. Lawry adheres to a specific regime of simplicity, with is highlighted in the structures of his songs which are, essentially, drawn up by three different entities; the prominent and melodious guitars, the repetitive and slow drums and the clean vocals which exhibit a knowledge of grief and pain. Otherwise, like simplistic black metal bands do, Lawry relies almost entirely on infectious melodies and giant atmospherics to draw an interest from passers by. Although most of the material remains largely forgettable, songs like ‘The Allure’ offer a brief relief from proceedings as it produces perhaps the best leading riff on the entire record. It’s a similarly structured song, but the lead is just that little bit more creative and energised despite the lazy movement of the instrumentation. The melody fused with the fuzzy distortion makes for an enjoyable listen, though normality is resumed as soon as this song finishes and the next begins.

There is a sense of impending doom surrounding the record against the mediocrity that lights its not-so-bright soundscapes. The record, as a whole, isn’t that engaging, though the vocals are nicely sprayed across the atmospherics and make a nice change from the usual death/doom vocals which generally includes lifeless growls. I’ll be interested to see how Lawry performs as part of a trio in one of his most recent bands, Khthon, otherwise Silent Winter can be neglected in pursuit of better death/doom hybrids. Even the early Anathema records work as a much better substitute than ‘The Allure’, which offers far too little creativity and spark. A very generic record without much to really speak of, or praise.