Listening to the album, End of an Era by Weeping Silence, is like a trip I took to Kansas. I can remember on the way back taking a route that would lead us to St. Louis. On this particular highway was a stretch where for as far as you could see in any direction was nothing. Flat prairie ground with the occasional hill. Bleak, cold and totally isolated is what you felt while passing through there. This is what you have with Weeping Silence. This album, which is rich in beautifully orchestrated atmospheric music with a gothic feel, leaves you with a yearning to seek out a loved one as you are swept into the lonely soundscape that is created and much like that stretch of road I talked about, the music is very much on a single plane with very little hills or valleys.
Weeping Silence is a band that I have a hard time calling metal as their press releases suggest. They are a very progressive group with some metal undertones. Their main course of electronic orchestration and moody symphonic melody is punctuated with some dynamic guitar work, but for the most part it is the keyboards that form the character of the band. This is not a bad thing by far. The mood is perfect for the melancholy vocals of Rachel Grech. She has a voice that brings out the sadness and morose side of the album.
For fans of the group Renaissance, here is a new band that will blend in very well for you. For people that want a rich, lush musical experience, this is also an album to have. When you hit those times when all you want around you is a set of headphones, pick this one up for sure.
This is a group that has a lot of promise. The record company sent me a sample of their next album along with this one and I can tell you now, I can't wait to hear it!
Track listing:
1. Mourning Reign
2. Deep Regret
3. Tell Me Why
4. Crystal Images
5. Darkness In My Heart
6. End of an Era