Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are some parts of the world so steeped in history, with so many cultures having for centuries crossed boundaries and the town, village or city having traded countries, been usurped into different cultures and traditions that it is no wonder that the music of the area is so diverse and with so much influence at its very core. This is especially true of Trieste’s SilentLie who have the honour of being influenced by many genres within the sphere of rock but to whom are very unique and ear-catching.

The threatening, perhaps even shadowy atmosphere of Layers of Nothing is one of darkness, of murky waters rising from the impossible deep and surfacing with proud indignation, vivid, intense sharp witted lyrics and a beat that rises and falls like a tidal wave on the north Italian shores.

The Gothic is a much undervalued concept when it comes to Metal, it adds drama, feeling and spectacle and in the album’s tight knit songs all of that heady combination can be felt and the underlying tension built up by Luigi Pressacco guitars, Giorgia Sacco Taz’s vocals, Davide Portiello’s highly inquisitive keys and bass and Andrea Piergianni’s drums make the Gothic seem full of controlled commotion and a one in which crisis in the genre is averted.

The tracks Invisible Fall, Slave, My Scream Is My Silence and We Are Wolves are the ones that make the journey through the northern Italian dark November nights somewhat of a fascination, a delve between the historic empires of old and the new realms of enlightened thought, a different way of thinking within the passions of the rear-guard. It is one that is hardy, full of pathos but with that glint of romance that makes Gothic all the more charming, the sparkle of the blood that rushes with force as if kissed by ethereal beauty.

SilentLie have shown that the door to old routes still exist, that the path once thought blocked by deserted language, can still and must be allowed to flourish without impunity. A great album in which to savour that romance within metal, be it dark and murky, is not dead.

Ian D. Hall