Silver Mountain show us the 80s still have plenty to offer
Featuring both Anders Johansson of Hammerfall fame and the legendary keyboardist Jens Johansson of Stratovarius, I had high expectations of Silver Mountain and their new CD 'Breakin' Chains'. Pleasingly, although it has its flaw and the style isn't entirely to my tastes, this CD manages to pull it off. Providing both nostalgia for old fans of the band and something fresh for the newcomers to the scene, 'Breakin' Chains' certainly broke through my preconceptions.
Opener 'Prophet Of Doom' (that has a video if you happen to get the enhanced CD) sets the scene of the album, galloping and crashing drums, riffing guitars with regular guitar-solo breaks, the occasional highly-entertaining and widdly keyboard solo, and soaring vocals which bring to mind those provided by singers such as Judas Priest's Rob Halford or Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson. Indeed, the album constantly brings comparisons to other heavy metal luminaries of the past, and not to the albums detriment, for rather than seeing this as derivative or unoriginal it simply brings good memories of the best aspects of this style. This formula works well for the band and we see it continued with some flair and inventiveness through the rest of the CD, with no real highlights or poor songs, just a constant general entertaining quality.
However, one thing that lets this CD down is the production. It certainly sounds very much like the 80s, which is probably the desired effect, however, the quality of production has moved on in metal music since those days and whilst the album certainly has a retro feel to it, the modern ear yearns for something that sounds more complete. Each instrument sounds entirely separate from one another and the vocals are disjointed from the feel of the music itself, creating the impression of several very good musicians playing the same song in entirely different ways. However, this is really the only thing that the album can be justifiably criticized on.
Whilst 'Breakin' Chains' isn't the sort of metal I would choose to listen to regularly, being a fan of more modern and experimental sounds, I can't fail to admit that this CD had its moments even for me and I am certain when I say that this will entertain the metal fan who is longer in the tooth than I, who remembers the 80s heavy metal scene fondly. This certainly isn't an essential purchase for anyone, but if you do like your metal with a retro sound, or if you're simply a fan who is curious about the Johansson's workings outside of Stratovarious or Hammerfall then this would be well worth looking into. Solid, unambitious, but nonetheless an entertaining CD.