Silent Planet - Iridescent (2021)^{Release ID: 32083}

I do not hate metalcore, but I am sure getting sick and tired of these metalcore bands with their half-assed song forms. These bands are less interested in the journey, but rather the destination. And that destination is breakdown heaven. For me, breakdowns mean nothing if they do not adequately prepare you for the sheer destruction that awaits in the mosh pit. Silent Planet is comfortably playing into this mold and coming up with new things to say about it is kind of boring.

The best I can do is that some of the post-hardcore elements on “Second Sun”, “Terminal” and “Till We Have Faces” show a group that at least knows how to write a good song with a good melodic motif, and use it for musical development, which includes breakdowns. The rest of the album is littered with same-y sounding, djent adjacent metalcore with no connectivity between the ideas. Many of the post-breakdown moments feel like interludes rather than development of ideas and are isolated from the main attraction, leaving many songs feeling unfinished.

The production does not help as the bass lines are completely swamped. The high treble in the kick drum, the down tuned guitars and the glitchy electronics are so heavily prominent that it feels like they are competing for attention. Without the bass presence, these breakdowns feel even less developed. The vocals are alright; very Jordan Dreyer-esque but with a far greater and pronounced howl for this brand of metalcore.

Iridescent is an album that is not as large as it thinks it is. It tries to be intrusive with a heavy emphasis on electronics, and goes for broke with the heavily down tuned guitars, but Frontierer’s Oxidized was both more intrusive and more dank than this by a considerable margin earlier this year. This feels a lot more grey than it should.