Haunted By Silhouettes - The Last Day On Earth

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HAUNTED BY SILHOUETTES is a five-piece Melodic Death Metal band from Trondheim, Norway, who, on October 4th, 2019, released their sophomore record, "The Last Day On Earth". Since the band's inception they have accumulated two full-length albums and two EP's. Although the Melodic Death Metal scene became some sort of niche among many Metal fans, with little to none ingenuity practiced by the senior artists of that sphere, some fresher acts, such as HAUNTED BY SILHOUETTES, manage to expend the artistic palette and stretch the boundaries of their weary genre to new territories. With the latest strong contender in the genre being INSOMNIUM's newest album, the Norwegian greenhorns, with their newest effort, "The Last Day On Earth", successfully manage to tailgate, and to some degree, overcome them in their own game.

Perfecting the collection that is "The Last Day On Earth" are 13 tracks. What is so unique about this album is the fact that throughout the entirety of the album, the Norwegians set a very clear and personal watermark, while surrounding it are a variety of stylistic selections, that prove that many artists influenced the band prior to the album's creation. If I am to pinpoint on specific artists, I'd suggest that, among others, bands such as INSOMNIUM, WOLFHEART, BE'LAKOR, PARADISE LOST and SWALLOW THE SUN had the biggest impact on how "The Last Day On Earth" turned out, hence the tracks on the record circle around the general theme of melancholy and despair.

Another remark should be given to the excellency and performance of the musicians on this record; between the band members, who are fantastic players in their own respective instruments, to the guest artists on the album, such as the female guest vocalist on the ninth track, "Undertow", clearly there is an understanding between everyone involved in the process of making the album - and the final product is fantastic for a second album. The orchestral moments in tracks in the likes of "Mountain Of Skulls" are very intriguing and fortifying moments. In other tracks, "The Wall", for example, there is a beautiful, yet sorrowful, piano melody that haunts the listener. This is especially true in "The Wall", where the piano part comes at the end of the track - creating a satisfying, cathartic ending to the Doom-drenched track.

Some tracks on "The Last Day On Earth", such as the mountainous "Jakta" or the unforeseeable "Post-Mortem Portraits", are more convincing and profound tracks among the thirteen-track catalogue; while ultimately featured as a single, the former track contains a rather unusual song structure, which differs itself from other singles. HAUNTED BY SILHOUETTES' ability to create an atmospheric surround without over-simplifying or over-complicating worth nothing short of a compliment. On the latter, one might be positively surprised by the ever-changing musical endevours that the Norwegians provide. The C-part that predates the guitar solos on both tracks, prove to be a musical enigma.

Much more can be said about "The Last Day On Earth", by the Norwegians HAUNTED BY SILHOUETTES, but if I am to conclude in a single paragraph - "The Last Day On Earth" is an excellent sophomore album that deserves much more than it gets. Fans of the genre will rejoice by the fact that more and more artists in the likes of HAUNTED BY SILHOUETTES are showing up, and provide strong prospect to the genre's future. I'm sure that we'll hear more from HAUNTED BY SILHOUETTES soon.

Songwriting: 8
Musicianship: 9
Memorability: 8
Production: 8