Album Review: Silent Winter – “Utopia”

Like phoenixes, risen from their own ashes, come Silent Winter from Volos with their third album "Utopia". This particular record, unlike its predecessors, "Circles Of Hell" and "Empire Of Sins", combines power, symphonic and heavy metal with a new sound, faster and more technical. 

The songs were written by the band's multi-talented guitarist and founding member Kyriakos Balanos, who is also responsible for the album's artwork. The engineering, mixing and mastering were handled by Steve Lado (who has worked with bands such as Sacred Outcry, Sunburst and Need). The recordings took place at Kalovidouris Sound & Light Studio, Volos.

"Utopia" consists of nine very interesting compositions

With "We Burn The Future" Silent Winter open the album explosively — it's melodic, fast and technical. On "Hellstorm" the keyboards take the leading role, with the song built around them: mid-tempo, with a chorus that sticks in your head straight away. "Hands Held High" is slow, epic, a metal anthem that pushes the crowd to sing it in one voice along with the band. On "Reign Of The Tyrants", the catchy keyboard melodies and the guitar riffs that shift the mood into something darker are what make it stand out.

"Manifest Of God" is another very fast track, technical in the drums and guitars, with Mike Liva giving it everything he's got on vocals. "Reborn" is the most melodic track on the record, with the bass playing a starring role alongside the vocals. "Heart Is A Lonely Hunter" is a heavy/power ballad that leaves a bittersweet taste with the listener, and one plenty of people will identify with. "Silent Shadows" is the combination of symphonic and power metal, with melodies familiar to Silent Winter fans. Finally, the excellent "Utopia", with plenty of tempo shifts from slow to fast, another speed/power anthem that a lot of listeners will get hooked on.

"Utopia" is several levels above their previous albums.

The compositions are more technical, and with the addition of Maria Moscheta on keyboards the songs have gained the sonic weight the band was missing. Whatever you say about this masterpiece isn't enough — this is a record that has come to go down in the history of Greek power metal.

Line-up:

Mike Livas – Lead & Backing Vocals

Kiriakos Balanos – Guitars

Vaggelis Papadimitriou – Guitars

Vaggelis Tsekouras – Bass

John Antonopoulos – Drums

Maria Mosxeta – Keyboards

Tracklist:

1. We Burn The Future
2. Hellstorm
3. Hands Held High
4. Reign Of The Tyrants
5. Manifest Of God
6. Reborn
7. Heart Is A Lonely Hunter
8. Silent Shadows
9. Utopia