Review: Tystnaden - In Our Eye

The history of Tystnaden (Swedish for silence) can be traced all the way back to 1998 when a group of Italians decided to form a metal band. Having originally been influenced by Swedish death metal, they have since focused on a female fronted Gothic metal sound.

In Our Eye is at the heavier end of the Gothic metal spectrum, and the influence from death metal is clearly evident in the guitar work. This is refreshing in contrast to the move by many bands towards a commercial, and quite frankly bland sound.

It's far from the original trad goth metal sound of Widow's Weeds, but it's also far from the bland commercial sound that dominates the genre at present.

The album makes significant use of electronic sounds, bringing an industrial vibe into the mix, given the way the male vocals are delivered at times it even bears a resemblance to EBM. Quite often synths are detrimental to the gothic metal sound, however Tystnaden uses them in just the right places, and at the right level.

Laura, the female lead handles the vocal duties excellently with a powerful and well tuned voice. Other reviewers often complain when a female vocalist doesn't sound like Tarja, well Laura doesn't and I think it's a good thing. There are too many singers trying to sound the same, it's a relief to hear a natural voice every once in a while.

Structurally the songs flow seamlessly combining sections of heavy riffing and growling with more mellow, melodic clean guitar passages and piano sounds. Though the fact that the same breakdown to a slower piano interlude occurs numerous times throughout the album does make it repetitive.

In summary, Tystnaden combine symphonic and electronic sounds on a quality bed of death influenced guitar riffing. This is combined with a powerful clean female lead and male growling to create an interesting yet catchy sound. A bit like a bad-ass Lacuna Coil.

7.5/10