Year: 2019
Total Time: 39:21                               
Label: Sonic Age Records

SILENT WINTER was formed in the mid-1990s, in Volos, central Greece. Having two demos in it’s luggage, “Silent Winter” and “War Of An Angel”, the band performed some live shows and took part in some festivals, before finally disbanding.

I don’t know if the 2018 EP “The War Is Here” was the spark that rekindled the fire of the Greek Power Metallers SILENT WINTER, however it certainly prepared us very well for the release of their new album “The Circles Of Hell”. The Greek band, having at its core its founder and guitarist Kyriakos Balanos as well as singer Mike Livas, made its restart. Let’s see what we listened to.

Friends of European Power Metal certainly can’t complain about this new release. With obvious influences from giants of the genre, such as the great HELLOWEEN and STRATOVARIUS, the group offers us pure, 90s I would almost say Europower, not only in sound (even the vocals somehow remind of Michael Kiske, without of course this being bad at all) but even in terms of production. It has this nostalgic aura that the completely well-polished modern productions deprive us of. It has all the package that made Power Metal popular and beloved. Nice and “catchy” sounds and rhythms in “Warriors Of The Sun”, “Final Storm” and “Soul Reaper”, very beautiful passages in “Silent Cry” with the participation of the Serbian singer Dragica Maletic, and, perhaps the best track on the album, ” Keeper Of The Light ». A set of songs that keep your interest.

If this record had been released a decade or fifteen years earlier, it would certainly have sparked waves of excitement. Now, it shows that SILENT WINTER is not lacking of inspiration and it begs the question: if they weren’t dissolved then, where would have reached?

Rating: 7,5/10
Editor: Fanouris Exintavelonis
Related Link: SILENT WINTER – Facebook Page