Review: Within Silence – The Eclipse of Worlds

Ulterium Records (December 6^th 2024)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper

After establishing themselves nearly a decade ago, melodic power metal band Within Silence have returned with their third album, ‘The Eclipse of Worlds’. When asked to review the band, I checked out their songs on YouTube and was instantly struck by the timbre of vocalist Martin Klein. He sounds like a combination of Geoff Tate and Bruce Dickinson, a very interesting blend.

My preference is melody over speed when it comes to power metal and was very pleased with the opening two tracks. ‘Land of Light’ and ‘Divine Power’ come across as surprisingly upbeat while maintaining the dynamic power associated with the genre. The band sounds great, and their musicianship is solid.

Things speed up with Track 3’s ‘The Eclipse of Worlds’. The band doesn’t plow through the track at a frenzied pace. Beginning with this track, the band shows the dynamics in play. There are change-ups throughout the song. The melody ebbs and flows in a way that borders on progressive while not flying so far left or right that the melody is compromised. The band showcase these interesting elements in various songs throughout the album.

The album takes an interesting twist with ‘Storyline’, a ballad that has a structure that surprised me.  It’s fashioned in a style that would be suited for a hair metal band. If I did not know better, it sounds like the band is covering a song that is outside of their genre. At 3:18, it’s the shortest track on the album. It’s the perfect length and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. A nice change of pace from the heaviness of the tracks that precede and follow it.

As stated earlier, the band knows how to harness their power effectively. A great example of this is ‘The Broken Thorn’. A strong and fast beat opens the song, and the band are wise to slow it down for the bridge section just before exploding once again with the chorus. It makes the song more impactful and does not burn the listener out with frenzy redundancy by the end. Other songs such as ‘The Treason’ and ‘The Mist’ take similar twists and turns and left me guessing where the song would go next, which made for an interesting listening experience.

The band did lose me a bit with the over twelve minute ‘When Worlds Collide’. It starts out with an Iron Maiden feel to it for the first third of the track and starts out strong, but it is hard for me to get into songs that go beyond the seven-minute mark. Like many songs that are this long, it’s as if the band took three different song ideas and combined them into one track. When you get to a point where you want the song to end so you can finish the album, that’s a sign that the overindulgence has gone too far.

A lot of the tracks offered here go in many interesting musical directions. There are change-ups in the speed and melody that were unexpected, but not in a way that made the songs overtly progressive. I loved the combo of an aggressive style with an upbeat approach to the music. All power metal enthusiasts will want to give this band a chance if you are like me and this is your first introduction to the band. Without having heard their past material, I will assume that older fans will also be pleased with the band’s latest effort.

Tracklist:

1. Land of Light
2. Divine Power
3. The Eclipse of Worlds
4. The Treason
5. Storyline
6. Battle Hymn
7. The Broken Thorn
8. The Mist
9. When Worlds Collide

Line-up:

Martin Klein – Lead vocals, backing vocals

Richard Germanus – Solo & rhythm guitars

Marian Gonda – Solo guitars

Viktor Varga – Bass

Peter Pleva – Drums

Official Website

Facebook

Instagram