MOONLIGHT AGONY – Silent Waters

Silent Waters is Moonlight Agony’s second full-length effort. The Swedish Metal band has specialized themselves in Dark Symphonic Power Metal. The band was founded back in 1999 by guitarist Karl Landin and drummer Robert Willstedt. They recorded two demos in 2001 and played some live gigs, but took a year off due to Willstedt leaving to begin his military service, and Landin took off to study music. Summer 2002, they were back together again and the result was another demo.

Before they started recording their first album, Echoes Of A Nightmare, in 2003, the band saw a couple of different line-ups. The album was released in 2004 and was produced by Tom Englund (singer and guitarist of Evergrey). After the completion of the album, Moonlight Agony signed a deal with Massacre Records, King Records, and Nightmare Records in order to distribute the album in different geographical areas. They also supported Doro on a mini-tour in Denmark.

Before recording this album, Silent Waters, they parted ways with vocalist Chitral Somapala due to geographical distances. They also have a new bass player on board, Christer Pedersen (Dragonland, Nightshade). And while they were at it, they signed with a new record company as well, making DOCKYARD 1 their new label.

The music is more unrelenting than the average Power Metal band provides, and it’s not as “happy” as the music of Gamma Ray, Edguy, or Rhapsody, but rather dark and mysterious like Evergrey or Falconer. A cool thing about the record is the change of pace and sudden surprises. One example is the song “You Betrayed Me.” It starts with keyboards, and when the rest of the band join in you are led into believing that this is going to be a slow and heavy song. That’s when drummer Willstedt decides to provide some double bass drum action. The song has a catchy tune, and in the middle of the song there’s a piece with band choir voices, which sounds similar to the band choir piece from Freedom Call’s “Hymn To The Brave” (from the album Stairway To Fairyland).

Also worth mentioning is the closing piece, “Solemn Waters.” This song proves that the new singer, David Åkesson, sounds great. His voice is high-pitched, but still he has a certain rawness that fits well with the rest of the band. Special guest on this track is female singer Sara Kvist. She has a beautiful voice similar to the ones you’d find in female-fronted Gothic Metal bands.

The material on this record itself does not stand out or hit you as genius in any way, but they manage to separate themselves from the average Power Metal band by adding the darkness to their music. The music is plain and could remind of Evergrey, though the vocals don’t resemble at all. They’ve also added a touch of progressiveness to their uncompromising Metal riffs. It sounds cool and it’s good to hear a Power Metal band that deviates from the safe and mediocre Power Metal path.

Silent Waters is above the average Power Metal release, but fails to reach all the way to the top. There is no doubt that this band has something going on, and this promises well for the times to come.

Lineup

• Karl Landin – Guitars
• Martin Mellström – Keyboards
• David Åkesson – Vocals
• Robert Willstedt – Drums
• Christer Pedersen – Bass
• Rikard Petersson – Guitars

Silent Waters has 10 tracks with a total running time: 44:40