Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

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The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.
Band
Age Of Silence
Title
Complications
Type
LP/EP
Company
The End
YOR
2005
Style
Progressive
12/15/2005 - Review by: Veritas
Probably would be quite enjoyable if executed in a different manner
Age of Silence - Complications - 2005 - The End Records

Track Listing
1.The Idea of Independence and the Reason Why it’s Austere
2. Mr. M, Man of Muzak
3. Vouchers, Coupons and the End of a Shopping Session
Age of Silence is made up of some of Norway’s finest. The band features Lazare (Borknagar, Asmegin) on vocals, Hellhammer (Mayhem, Arcturus) on drums and Andy Winter (Winds) on keys. This combination results in near perfection when it comes to the technical and conceptual aspects of the music. Despite the immense amount of talent present in the band, however, whatever Age of Silence is trying to do isn’t working at all, at least not on “Complications,” a three-song EP.

The band's style is curious and innovative, and probably would be quite enjoyable if executed in a different manner. Master songwriter Andy Winter has assembled three tracks of psychedelic progressive metal, with intricate guitars accentuated by rather funky keyboards. But everything falls to pieces in the vocal department. Before I go any further, I want it to be made clear that Lazare (otherwise known as Lars Nedland) is one of my favorite musicians in the metal realm. His keyboards and backing vocals with Borknagar are both nothing short of epic. In Asmegin, he has sole command over all the clean male vocals (which make up approximately a third, as Asmegin have three singers) and does beautifully. I once said he should take over the lead clean roles in Borknagar, as his voice is crisper than Vintersorg’s. He’s also lent his talents as a drummer to Carpathian Forest, and plays several instruments in his Solefald project. It’s a real shame that Age of Silence picked him as a vocalist, though, because his voice does not even come close to fitting with the music. Lazare was born to sing in folk, Viking, and black metal (at least black metal that features some clean singing) bands, not some avant-garde progressive project. Age of Silence’s music is structured in a way that it requires someone akin to a power metal singer to capture its essence – someone whose voice is much more powerful and much less majestic.

Age of Silence is a band that frankly isn’t worth investigating. The disharmony between the vocals and instruments (which, on their own, are excellent) is too big an obstacle to traverse in order to enjoy the music. After this “Complications” EP the band would be wise to make some sort of stylistic changes if they wish to find success. Otherwise I fear that they will forever flounder at the bottom of the metal spectrum, never to be heard by sympathetic ears. I’m going to stick to my no-ratings-for-EPs rule, and for that Age of Silence should consider themselves lucky.

--Veritas 11.29.05
  • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
    N/A :AVE RATING

ALL REVIEWS FOR: AGE OF SILENCE
TITLE
DOR
COMPANY
REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
Acceleration
2004
The End
Vinaya Saksena11/4/2004
3.5
Complications
2005
The End
Veritas12/15/2005
-

ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: AGE OF SILENCE
INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE


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