A capella metal!?
Can you do that?!
According to Van Canto, you can!
As absurd as it sounds, a capella metal can be done and when done by the likes of Van Canto, it works pretty well. On Break the Silence, all instrumentation, except the drums, is produced vocally, but other than that the group stays very faithful to the aesthetics of metal. The aesthetics of power metal, that is, because the genre that they draw on almost exclusively is Euro power metal, which with its tendency towards grandiosity and outright cheesiness lends itself perfectly to what you can do with five vocalists and a drummer.
Thus the listener can expects lots of vocal harmonies which provide the backdrop against which the lead vocals are sung. I must say that I think this works extremely well with the power metal genre, and Break the Silence definitely is an interesting album that offers an unusual take of a very recognizable and not always original genre.
The only instrumentalist in Van Canto is the drummer, because, as they say themselves, they are not a disco pop band. Well, although the drummer obviously is a very skilled metal drummer who performs impeccably, I think that Van Canto should have gone completely a capella and perhaps hired some human beatboxers to provide the rhythm section. I mean Japanese beatboxer Dokaka has done covers of Metallica, Slayer and Iron Maiden without at all sounding like a disco pop band.
This album might put the listener off at first listen, because it sounds so unusual, but give it a couple of listens, and I am sure that most listeners will place Break the Silence on equal terms with more traditional Euro power metal releases.... oh, and you can look forward to some interesting Manowar, Alice Cooper and Sabbaton covers.
Track list:
1. If I Die In Battle
2. The Seller Of Souls
3. Primo Victoria
4. Dangers In My Head
5. Black Wings Of Hate
6. Bed Of Nails
7. Spelled In Waters
8. Neuer Wind
9. The Higher Flight
10. Master Of The Wind
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