Ward of Roses, the debut album from The Silver, is unlike anything its members have done before. Featuring brothers Matt and Jamie Knox of progressive death metal outfit Horrendous and Crypt Sermon drummer Enrique Sagarnaga, plus new face Nick Duchemin, The Silver base their sound in black metal—but the result is far from anything expected.
Take new song “Breathe” as an example—there are blast beats and expressive, screamed vocals but The Silver dwell in much more emotional territory, pulling from goth rock and real-life highs and lows to produce an album that is much more vulnerable than its members other projects. Matt Knox’s clean vocals serves as a foil to Duchemin’s blackened shrieks, matching the heavy/soft dynamic heard throughout Ward of Roses.
“‘Breathe’ is an ode to the martyrs who’ve entered our lives—both those we’ve sought, and those who were, by chance, given to us,” explains Matt Knox, who also uses the pseudonym V in The Silver. “It’s about the pain of knowing that what they’ve sacrificed for you can never be returned, and that despite your best efforts, you are powerless to save them.
“Musically, ‘Breathe’ circulates between hazy/faded nostalgic dreamscapes and the raw sufferings of one’s most private Golgotha, evoking all the while the monuments we all build in the name of pain.”
Ward of Roses is out October 15 on Gilead Media but you can listen to “Breathe” below.
