Behind Silence and Solitude

Behind Silence and Solitude is the debut, binding rough riffs, growls and lyrical guitar leads. It's the first record by the band Phil Labonte — who had left Shadows Fall — started as a side project in 1998 with guitarist Oli Herbert; Labonte had sung on Shadows Fall's Somber Eyes to the Sky. Recorded at Planet Z between January and February 2000 and co-produced by the band with Zeuss. It's also the only release preserving the founding lineup: Chris Bartlett (guitar), Dan Egan (bass) and Michael Bartlett (drums). Released in March 2002 on Prosthetic. Rather than the later polish, what comes through here is the urgency at the border of melodic death metal and metalcore. Swedish-death-derived elements sit further forward than on the melodic metalcore path they'd take later. The songs may be rough but they're full of energy, and the guitars' melodies let light into the intensity. The eight tracks that run from the title song through “From These Wounds” and “Follow” are short but dense. A record for knowing the aggression and emotion at the band's origin.