Silent Disguise

Blueprints EP

Written by: BL on 02/12/2010 02:26:49

Silent Disguise is another young band from the UK, this time based in London and have been around for only two years. Trying to break into the whole melodic post-hardcore/metalcore scene is no easy feat especially in the UK and perhaps I'm calling this early, but while the band do make some good headway on their four song EP "Blueprints", there are a few fundamental issues I feel like should be addressed in order for the band to maxmise their potential of being recognised for their musical efforts.

Right off the bat "Save You" is an energetic track with some metallic riffing guitars and fast pummelling drumming. Everything is more or less pretty 'okay' by this stage. In fact I get slightly reminded of a band I'm still anxiously waiting to hear new material from - York based melodic metal band Beyond All Reason. While I wouldn't compare them too much considering how different the vocalists sound (and these guys not being as good as them), there are definite similarities in the the guitars especially, where the guitarists opt for lots of harmonised riffs that were all the rage with old Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine. "Save You" does have a rather good use of some orchestral strings, and while the chorus iterations are simple, the way additional guitars are layered ontop in the outro one was a nice touch. "Blueprints" next up features some female guest vocals, which actually work fairly well despite being nothing too unorthodox, and stops the song from being an otherwise completely passable ballad-type.

By the time "Only By The Night" comes around, things return to being more in the style of the first song, and to put it another way, a little more predictable. The guitars again show some competent fretwork with a few interesting guitar riffs here and there. But the problem for me is that I was so used to these sort of guitars from bands who were so relevant long ago (aforementioned) and have now faded, that it's hard to get really excited by them unless they're really special (which isn't the case majoritively speaking unfortunately). The vocal arrangements in this song are actually pretty decent but I found it surprisingly difficult to really get into front man Alex Marshall's vocals overall. They're fairly deep in range and barely hit a note wrong, but it could either be the rather suspicious mixing (which by the way has the guitars sounding a bit muddy and the drums a bit too tinny) or just that perhaps it's a singing style I have not heard properly in a while. Moving onto the last song "20 Stories" I definitely have some issues with the vocals here, there are parts where some heavy screams and growls are brought in - and suffice to say I do not think they work in the slightest nor do they sound that great, there's also one part at the end with a flat note that really sticks out at me. The rest of the song, while has a few decent bits and pieces (like the small guitar solo), seems a bit disorganised overall and is a rather disappointing end to the EP.

So basically "Blueprints" for me, isn't doing all that much or enough to make itself stand out. It's certainly not committing anything foul (other than a few dodgy screams) and is put together with at least a good level of instrumentation. Stylistically "Blueprints" is perhaps sounding a bit too dated and the mixing does let it down however which ultimately makes it a hard release to really recommend.

5

Download: Save You, Blueprints
For the fans of: Beyond All Reason (but NOT the vocals), Old Trivium, Old Bullet For My Valentine
Listen: Myspace

Release date 01.07.2010
Self Released

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