SCREAMING FOR SILENCE – House Of Glass (Album Review)

Close your eyes, dim the lights, turn up the music and imagine you’re racing your Aston Martin down the highway. Screaming For Silence offer a more melodic metalcore recipe than some, yet provide a strong arm slam to your ears and heart. They are the snarling D-Line that will turn over your ball and earn you points and interceptions for touch downs.

The Omaha, Neb.- based outfit is comprised of Zeb Christensen (vocals), Danny Irwin (guitar, vocals), Casey Newsom (lead guitar), Matt Tatroe (drums) and bassist Colin Smith. This EP continues the excellent form from their debut The King Is Crowned and features five really strong songs that burn into your soul with their ferocity and melody.

Their influences seem to encompass Fear Factory, Unearth, Suicide Silence and a nod or two to Every Time I Die. They very much remind me of the excellent Beartooth in that they embrace melody and aggression in equal measure. For a fan like me, this is really addictive. For some metalcore bands, I love the music, but the total lack of melody in the singing is a bit of a turn-off. I like it when it is mixed up and SFS are fantastic exponents of this.

The flight of this EP is begun by the “House Of Glass” track, with the snapping of a shotgun. The song has terrific energy and an amazing chorus. The production by Erik Ron (Motionless in White producer) is clean, powerful and modern. Maybe it sacrifices a little warmth, but it works so well. The vocals are so good, with Zeb sounding clear and emotional. There are some effects on his voice that bring to mind Beartooth, but again no bad thing in my book. The guitar solos are great bursts of speed with a Maiden-like ambiance.

The Fear Factory vibe emerges from the “Long Way Up” grooves. The solo on this is so memorable and the whole song will stay with you for some time. Perfect chanting for those sweaty gigs that will definitely be on the band’s agenda.

“In Your Eyes” fuzzes out, with some great discrete keyboards. Once again, there is a definite Fear Factory echo on this track, which suits me just fine. This song would not be out of place on albums like Digimortal – one of my favorite records of the genre.

“Beetlejuice” has a Maiden swagger to it and the drumming is military tight. The electronica adds and fills the sound nicely and the screaming is pretty intense too. Another cracker from SFS.

The EP finishes on the most melodic track “Worth Fighting For” and this record is definitely worth that.

Keep screaming guys and keep the melody too – it is potent and I look forward to some day catching you live if you get to the UK! Check this EP out and give metalcore a chance.

Buy: House Of Glass