Fury Rocks

Reviewer: Maurice van der Zalm

For me Silver Cypher is the project of guitarist and vocalist Jon Krech. This talented man of the United States has written almost all the songs and produced and mixed the second cd of the band. Supported by Adam Brown, Mike Lawson and Jon Martin he plays six songs with a average length of seven minutes on this cd.

You can’t catch the music of Silver Cypher just in one word. The music is definitely influenced by trash and doom metal and eighties rock. For me the first song The knights templar has even got the soul of Jethro Tull and the Sisters of mercy. Old blood and guts is heavy. It’s got a heavy slowly groove that sounds like a death metal song. The song lasts over nine minutes, but is enchanted.

The CD continues with the song Legion. Jon Krech gets his inspiration from books, fantasy, history, religion and his own endless imagination. It’s obvious in Legion and it became a cruel fairytale with a splendid guitarsolo. No forgiveness is a Black Ballad. A beautiful musical song with lyrics like I will always hate you and I will never forgive you. Sounds bittersweet with a hard angle. In Arrogance you will hear a lot of hooks in tempo, far more than in the other songs.

The final song on the CD Highway lost is cowritten by bassplayer Mike Lawson. The most easy song, suited for a greater range of people. Silver Cypher have listened well to bands like Iced Earth, Dream theatre and Opeth but don’t reach the same level. For people who don’t want to pinned down to one kind of metal music it is certainly a CD you have to listen to. Trash, doom, power or death. Just listen to the heavy sound of Silver Cypher.

 

Métal Intégral

Reviewer: Raskal

Here's the new album from our friends at SILVER CYPHER, those Americans who officiate in the Dark Heavy Metal since their first demo in 2006!

You can find the news of their first album in 2007, Yesturday’s Tomorrow on this site (this column was originally done in English for my blog in 2007, you will forgive the translation). The group won the right to a title on the compilation ofEMANES METAL (Long Live Metal in 2008) after his victory in HEAVY METAL SHOCK for those who remember!

The time is past and now it is time to talk about this Cryptic Characters !

The first finding is that SILVER CYPHER was removed from his influence over, namely ICED EARTH ! The style is more personal and that's ... The production is much more professional and gives the whole more cohesion and credibility with those who do not like groups " Underground ". The other novelty is the appearance of small influences to MOONSPELL on Highway Lost , and is a true success and a track for the future!

The titles are the most successful for me first, The Knights Templar (which can mix several atmospheres in a perfect way, including choirs "Gregorian") Highway Lost and the last one! These securities are really worked and cleverly made alternating passages Heavy Métal limit epic The Knight Templar !

Old Blood And Guts will be medium, and haunting ambience, along solo is simple but very pleasant and the very melodic song. A title that I like more and more with each listen and lasts more than eight minutes. Legion is more rhythmic and influence for rhythmic ICED EARTH , Jon KRECH of the song is still as warm and enchanting! Is also a very excellent long solo " 70’s / 80’s "

No Forgiveness will be calmer with a gradual rise, the opportunity for Jon to highlight. Arrogance remains in the medium. Both titles are for me the least effective.

In summary SILVER CYPHER is a subtle mixture of mostly DEPRESSIVE AGE (the German group which has released five albums and two EP in 90’s) and ICED EARTH (a little). If you are fans of Dark Metal that combines several styles (70’s, 80’s and 90’s), SILVER CYPHERlearn quickly, a group that is progressing!

Style: Dark Metal
Art Party: 2.5 / 5
Interest in 80’s Heavy Metalfans: 3 / 5
Interest in traditional metal fans in general: 5 / 5
RASKAL The French Warrior : 17/20

 

RASKAL Objective: 17.5 / 20

The Metal Observer

Reviewer: Adam

SILVER CYPHER is a band from Cincinnati. They are special when it comes to the matter of genre, as they, unlike many other bands, seem to take an interest in what their genre is and how it should be defined. The band describes itself as playing Dark Power Metal (by which they mean the genre that Europeans often call American Power Metal). What we have here is a Power Metal album with many Thrash influences and a dense feeling that is often reminiscent of Epic Doom Metal. The bands that I can use as closest comparison are ICED EARTH, DEMONS & WIZARDS and DARK EMPIRE, but the Doom feeling lies fairly close to SOLSTICE.

There are only six songs on here, but they are all very long, so that compensates for the lower number. Throughout the album, the Power Metal sound is the dominating, but a lot of Thrash riffing comes in and the tempo is mostly considerably lower than on most Power Metal records. Another thing that separates this album from much of the PM scene is that SILVER CYPHER seem to aim at atmosphere instead of a straighter and faster approach. All of this makes the sound on Cryptic Characters quite unique and for an unsigned band to find a so well-defined own niche is indeed very impressive!

The musicianship is qualitative. The drumming is very subtle and really works in the background. That makes for a more anonymous drum sound, but it also works well with the sound that the band is creating. Guitars and bass do a good job, as well. Heavy riffing and shredding solos are to be found, as well as calmer melodic parts. One thing that could be improved a lot though, is the production. It feels fairly flat and both drums and guitars would give even more effect if they obtained a more dramatic place in the mix. This lack of production, however, contributes to a dark and mystic feeling, such as the one on Halcyon by SOLSTICE. I think that under-produced albums can sometimes trigger my imagination, as everything is not given away.

Vocalist Jon Krech deserves an honorary mention. His voice really interests me; his vocal performance varies a lot and I enjoy all of his styles - sometimes he is high-pitched and typical for Power Metal, at other times there is more of a rough Thrash approach and sometimes it is dark and lies between spoken and sung. But most of the time his voice is fragile and full of emotion, with a chanting tone to it. The lyrics he sings seem to concern interesting subjects, but they drag down the vocals a bit, as they consist of a lot of unsophisticated simple rhyming.

The final impression is that Cryptic Characters is a well-written and well-performed album in an interesting genre, performed by a band of skilled musicians with a distinct vocalist. When it comes to individual songs, I recommend The Knights Templar for its chorus and exciting instrumental parts, Old Blood And Guts for its epic approach. However, five of the six songs are really good. Only Arrogance is a bit weaker in my book. If the band finds a label and receive help with the production and also mature even more concerning composition and lyrics, SILVER CYPHER could become a real knock-out!