This French outfit seems to be a reincarnation of Heavy/Power metallers WINTERLAND who had released the "The Snow Begins to Fall" self-financed EP back in 2007. SILENT FALL walk on the same musical path, with a set of songs in this debut album owing a lot to melodies and Euro Power Metal rhythms backed by smart keyboards and fronted by the melodic voice of Adrien Eyraud. The man's got a really clear and sweet vocal style that anyway fits the music but it's too sweet at times I think he's just a pop singer guesting in a Metal band's album! Maybe that's why the harsh voice of Oliver Caron offers some more wild backing singing in order to give some volume and savagery to the vocal parts at least (bringing to mind something like e.g. lighter IN FLAMES). Otherwise, the bands mentioned as top friends in their MySpace page are an accurate factor for their ID.
The band has worked hard in bringing forth notable compositions; there's a good deal of riffs, tempos and moods from song to song or even in each song alone. The corrosion of European Power Metal is quite evident, though, in our days and it's not easy for a rookie band like SILENT FALL to escape sounding rather flat to fans not being die-hards of this specific genre. The production is not polished enough, which can be a disadvantage to many; I still enjoyed it since in such a sound/mix the peculiarity of each band is better unveiled and the 'underground' style is here preventing them from sounding 'just like the others'.
What impressed me the most in SILENT FALL's debut is - to cut a long story short - their loyalty to the musical path the follow. This is an impression I got gradually listening to "Otherwise" (a strange title, huh...) and possibly has to do with the human dynamo of the band members, resulting in an album clocking to 65' minutes (an ambitious duration) but not showing strong signs of seams. The performance of the band is illustrious, not at a pro level but down-to-earth and flourishing.
"Otherwise" is surely recommended to metallers tasting their Metal ultra melodic and - at times - symphonic or into the wilderness. More demanding listeners may find it average enough but I'd propose their name should be highlighted since with an album like this for a debut they really can reach far higher levels in their next couple of works.
