Silver Dust: Lullabies

I always think it’s brave of a band not to put their name on the cover of an album, even if the days of flicking through racks of new releases may well be long behind us. That said, the cover itself for Lullabies, the fourth album from Silver Dust is quite striking and represents the grand, gothic intentions you’ll find in this band’s music very well indeed. A quick look at the band’s photos in the booklet leaves little doubt that the cover’s atmosphere is going to be carried on throughout this outfit’s whole ethos, with the use of tops hats, striking dayglo (well, they would be if everything wasn’t black and white!) contact lenses and facial hair that took weeks to perfect (or draw on…).

In fairness, I do like a band with the vision to create a theme to what they do and the strength in their ideas to see it through, and Silver Dust are definitely that band, bold and bright keyboards building the base from which a darker edge is allowed to creep in from the guitars. Vocally, Lord Campbell (that may sound exotic to someone from Switzerland, but being from Scotland as I am, not so much) doesn’t muck around, staying resolutely in a deeper register, but the chap can sing and no mistake.

Personally, I’m always a little wary of heavy metal where the keyboards and choral voices continually push the guitars to the side (turn them up!!) but it is a little difficult not to simply be swept up in the grandeur of “Ingeborg�, where 80s pop seems to slither its way into something The 69 Eyes might croon on about, while “A Brief History Of Kind Human� allows Magma (not the band!) to build a drum groove, while church organ swirls and swoops. Add in the more overtly pop sheen of “Tropique Triste� and there’s no doubt that Silver Dust are pretty good at what they do, even if I wish they’d inject at least a little energy from time to time.

That all said, while I can pick few faults with Lullabies, I’m equally torn as to whether there’s just quite enough going on here to draw me back on a regular basis. The performances are excellent and this band know exactly what they are trying, and succeeding to project. Therefore, if what’s described above sound appealing to you, then I’d advise you check them out.

Track Listing
1. Blurred
2. A Brief History of a Kind Human
3. La Ciguë
4. Elevator to Silence
5. Ingeborg
6. Archimboldi
7. Tropique Triste
8. The Red Poet
9. Au Revoir

Added: September 21st 2022
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Fastball Music
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Language: english

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