(Melodic Death Metal) Dark Age - The Silent Republic (Japanese Edition) - 2002, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

#777Dark Age is a band that I really like. They’re not a big and famous band, but their album are just great!
So here we go about The Silent Republic.
This album begins with a synth introduction which has a big weak point: the volume is too low, so you’ll have to raise the volume by yourself. But raising the volume will permit you to be really hit by the second song, which is the title song of the album. It has really great rhythms and lead guitar riffs (if you doesn’t headbang on that song, go and see a doctor), and the synth is quite good too. Daily Combat, the next song, begins quite fastly, but then slow a little, and after the 2nd minute, it becomes really good. Again there, drums are good and lead guitar just sounds great. In Know me Strong, you’ll listen to the “clean” voice of Eike for the first time (people who know the “new” Dark Age and have heard “Dark Age” or “Minus Exitus” are quite used to this voice). For me, it really fits in the song, giving it a more “melodic” sound. The next song, Suicide Crew, is also good, with its few parts without any guitar sounding really well, and giving importance to the great bass lines we have there. It is just a bit short, another verse would have been welcomed. Cut the flesh is a darker song, which is for me one of the best on this CD. It sounds a bit more like black metal (at least on the composition) and shows us an other Dark Age. Return is also the “clean” voice’s return, and here it sounds just perfect with the composition (which is really great too, with a magnificent solo). The eighth song, Last Words, is my favourite one on this album. The instrumental part in this song is just great, and Eike voices sounds just perfect with all the instruments during the choruses, and you’ll quickly scream “I have reached the point of no return!” with him. Now or Never begins really beautifully, with a great lead guitar riff, and stay beautiful until the end, with also a great solo here. The last Dark Age own song on this album, We Who Suffer is slower than others but really beautiful too. The ending with only synth and drums programming is also quite magical. Then, the bonus track Hells Bells is also a big song, Dark Age sounding great on this AC DC cover (even if AC DC fans won’t like it more than the original).
I think this album gets slower and deeper with the time, but all the songs are just as great. They have all beautiful drums rhythms (I really like Andre drumming, it sounds great with the rest of instruments) catchy rhythms with the guitar (and also really magnificent lead guitars parts). The solos, even if they are not the kind “fast technical and so on” with shredding all the time and things like that, are great and really give something to the songs. The bass sounds well especially on some songs like Suicide Crew, and the synth too. The voice is really good and gives emotions during the entire album. The weak points on this album are: 1) the synth volume is just too low, so the production doesn’t give enough importance to it, and 2) the lyrics are a bit short, so there are many repetitions during that album. That’s why it doesn’t get 100%. But this album is a really great disc, which will be loved by all Dark Age’s fans and also by others, even if the Suicide theme during all the time can be boring for some (not me) and can disgust others (for me, even if I’m not suicidal, I appreciate this lyrics). In other words, don’t think, buy this CD and then enjoy it, you won’t regret it!
Review written by AretterA for www.metal-archives.com