There's classically influenced metal and then there's Classical music influenced by metal and that seems to be where the appropriately named Silent Opera fall. This symphonically melodic and operatic band cranks up the riffs and shatters glass like Maria Callas on a rampage. Their album Immortal Beauty is a soaring epic of aria's set to walls of distortion and chaos. It’s interesting stuff to say the least.
With vocals that almost belong on the classical stage Silent Opera truly sounds like it's something straight out of the 19th century. We're not talking high pitched, but we’re thinking full on contralto vocals here. This is amazing stuff that truly needs to be heard to be believed..it’s like Leonard Bernstein conducting the orchestra of the damned. While I'm not a fan of opera at all (classical yes...opera no) this is simply mesmerizing stuff that's hard to ignore. When you take those vocals and throw it in front of a wall of crunchy driving metallic guitars and drums the combination is just too bizarre to turn away from. I'm not sure I can handle too much of Immortal Beauty at one time but for short durations this is some pretty heady stuff.
Immortal Beauty is not your run of the mill metal album nor is it a run of the mill symphonic record. It's classical crossover in a whole new way and it's one way to get folks who never would have paid attention to the form interested in it. Silent Opera are anything but...this is one powerful wailing behemoth of a band and it's loud and powerful. Immortal Beauty is an acquired taste for sure, but certainly something worth checking out if just to hear how Silent Opera pull it all off.
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