GODS OF SILENCE – Neverland

Gods Of Silence’s album Neverland, is a pleasingly muscular offering of Melodic Metal fare with Progressive inflections, deriving much of its strength from singer Gilberto Meléndez epic voice and emotive delivery. Metal purists who disdain the Melodic Metal tag, imagining a blur of keyboards over upper register vocals, should not pass Neverland by without a fair listen.

Bruno Berger’s playing on the album is restrained; an effective counterpoint to drummer Philipp Eichenberger’s rapid trigger kick pedals, Daniel Pfister’s undulating bass rhythms, and guitarist Sammy Lasagni’s climbing riffs. Meléndez is truly gifted, with a great range and confident delivery that suits the material well. Ostensibly a debut album, though all band members but Meléndez were in KirK prior, making Gods Of Silence more of a relaunch than a new band. This history may help explain why the songwriting is so varied and so good.

“Army of Liars” is an effective, high gear launch the stage for early singles “Full Moon” and the title cut. “Phoenix” lulls the listener into a false sense of security with some gentle keyboard atmospherics before Eichenberger cuts loose. “Demons” has a very Iced Earth vibe, especially during the chorus; follow-up “Wonderful Years” is a reprieve from the fantasy-tinged songs that preceded it — a breakup song with an equally killer chorus. “Alone” is a return to fantasy, with Meléndez lamenting the sorrows being immortal. Neverland closes as strong as it opened with “All My Life”, ending a Melodic Metal album from a band that, debut or relaunch, sounds like they know what they are doing.

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