AltarTV

Somewhere between the comfort zone of screaming guitars and the fetishized strangeness of the post-genres, there is Silverstein: a group of five musicians so sure of themselves and their style that listeners have no choice but to be swept away in their stormy, chaotic sounds.

A twelve year career of conquered fanbases and risk-taking leaps finds Silverstein ahead of the game and happy about it. They’ve sold over a million records and toured with a litany of top-shelf metal acts, and they’re showing no signs of slowing down. Punctuated by the persistent scream-soaked vocals of Shane Told, Silverstein builds mini-epics of swarming guitars, thundering rhythms and darkly enticing imagery.

Silverstein’s latest is the appropriately titled ‘Short Songs’: twenty two tracks under 90 seconds apiece, each showcasing their capacity to shrink their ambition into curt, concise hard metal gems. ‘Short Songs’ also provides an insight into their influences with the second side dedicated to covering bands like Dead Kennedys, NOFX and Descendants.

‘Short Songs’ is as much a transgression for Silverstein as it is an emblem of their try-anything attitude: they seem to understand that pushing their music forward requires taking risks that may not pan out. But it’s that risk taking and conviction in their sound that makes Silverstein such a constant, compelling force in modern metal.

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