Album Review: Silent Skies - Satellites

I have rarely been a fan of Evergrey, and it's for the oddest of reasons. While most people adore the band for Tom Englund's emotional vocals, I have always found them to be overwrought, and trying too hard without ever landing the plane. I'm not saying he's faking it, or going through the motions, but he has never resonated with me. That was reinforced when he joined Redemption, and promptly appeared on what I find their most boring album ever. I attribute that to his vocals lacking the same flair as Ray Alder, but when taken all together, it leads me in one direction.

Listening to a lengthy album of primarily nothing but Tom's voice and a piano is not something I was looking forward to.

That's what Silent Skies is, and it's the sort of album that once again misses so much of the point. I addressed this topic when Witchcraft's album came out this year, and I feel like it needs to be brought up again; stripping down the music is not an excuse for writing boring songs. If anything, the bare-bones instrumentation requires stronger songwriting to fill the gaps and spaces where you might otherwise add in ear candy. Here, it's the composition or nothing.

Tom attempts to provide melodies, but with his voice so restrained to not overpower everything else, they don't stick with me. They are calling out for more power, and that can't come with this music. But what really gets to me is the music itself, where the piano offers very little in the way of a memorable backdrop. The piano is a remarkably versatile and interesting instrument, and we wouldn't know that listening to this. Think about all the great piano parts we have heard in our lives, and you will be as disappointed as I was listening to this.

Vikram is billed as a virtuoso, but the playing is not impressive as a display of skill, nor is the writing interesting on any level. There isn't a piece that stands out from the rest, no moment so beautiful it makes up for the rest of the dirge. There is sparse music, and then there is boring music. They are distinct categories, and one does not cause the other. Yet here, we see the venn diagram overlap.

Contrast this with Taylor Swift's "Folklore", where she writes songs that are also stripped down and more somber, yet every song has a distinct identity and a simple hook to grab hold of. That is what a great songwriter is able to achieve, and it's where Silent Skies fails. They want this album to be 'films for the inner eye'. That's a noble cause, but that requires something far more stirring than this. I don't see landscapes and vivid imagery when I'm listening to "Satellites". I see my own eyelids, because I'm ready to fall asleep.

If they were relying in Tom's charisma to carry this record, that charm doesn't work on me. All I can hear is music that meanders for too long without finding the way home. It isn't captivating, it isn't evocative, and it isn't even beautiful. They took a difficult idea and failed to elevate it.