2012 is an age where heavy metal music has exploded into numerous sub-groups. I remember when heavy metal was considered Judas Priest or Ozzy Osbourne, not the “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” (NWOBHM). Now we have Blackened this or Melodic that and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. Metal is growing and these different groups have begun to start influencing each other. In my mind purity has become an afterthought.

The Silent Rage from Greece is one of those bands that doesn’t exactly fit into a specific genera. Others have called them a melodic Power Metal band. They play a heavy style of Power Metal similar to that of Brainstorm but you can easily hear a heavy influence of Fates Warning and Iron Maiden in their work.

Harvester of Souls is a 5 song EP and the second release by the band. The EP contains 3 news songs and two off their self titled 1^st EP.

Initially I was mesmerized by the guitar solos found in this music. The guitar work of Nikos Siglidis and Kostas Mavroyannis is simply fantastic but after a few listens the bass lines of Stavaros Tsilivarakos really started to grow on me, especially on the final two tracks: “Harvest of Souls” and “Wings of Tragedy”. The songs are the perfect length and the production quality of the music is above average.

The only thing lacking in the band seems to be their ability to write lyrics. For the most part, this deficiency is hidden by the strong singing of vocalist Dionisis Knotis but I can easily imagine what this band could become with some solid writing behind them.

I wanted to mention there have been mixed reviews about this band’s use of harsh vocals. Many argue that there is no place for these kinds of vocals in Power Metal. I completely disagree. I love the harsh vocals and I think it’s awesome when a band is influenced by another and incorporates that sound into their music. Stereotypes be damned; if something rocks, it rocks.

If you like heavy metal, power metal or Iron Maiden, put The Silent Rage on your list of bands to check out, you won’t be disappointed. \m/

Harvester of Souls tracklisting:
1. Perished in Flames
2. Inner Scars
3. Leading the Legions
4. Harvester of Souls
5. Wings of Tragedy

The Silent Rage are:
Nikos Siglidis – Guitar, Harsh Vocals
Dionisis Kontis – Lead and Backing Vocals
Kostas Mavroyannis – Lead Guitar
Stavros Tsilvarakos – Bass
Stelios Pavlou – Drums

More The Silent Rage:
Reverbnation

See them live along with Heathendom and Mortem Arta @ Limassol, Cyprus on 23rd June 2012.

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