Sil Veth
The Elemental
8.1
Sil Veth is a melodic black/death metal hybrid that kicks a whole ton of ass. I'm going to go ahead and say they're one of the North American metal scene's best kept secrets. This 25-minute EP displays more proficiency, both in technicality and actual songwriting, than what a vast amount of better known bands possess. All five tracks consist of varied drumming with extensive and fitting use of double bass rolls, above average melodeath growls, and intricate melodic riffs that absolutely rip and tear. The tempo is utilized very well through timely and effective clean interludes breaking up the passages of headbanging fervor, two minutes into "Stone Gazer" being a prime example. The melodies, as scorcher "Spheres" demonstrates, are very distinctive and demand repeated plays.
In fact, the biggest thing holding this release back is not necessarily something the band may have that much control over: the production. By no means bad (indeed, for such an unknown, it's very good), the occasionally muddy sound and not-quite-perfect mixing are the only flaws encountered throughout.
The Elemental doesn't sound like the average underground EP. It reminds me of bonus discs packaged with well-respected albums that contain a band's early demo versions of songs their fans are already very familiar with. I have no doubt Sil Veth will release an impressive debut album that will render this EP no more than a brief, sonically inferior retrospective, but until then fans of bands like At the Gates and A Celebration of Guilt-era Arsis should pursue The Elemental posthaste. Only 25 minutes of material of this caliber is far too short, and I am eagerly awaiting more from this extremely promising band.
