Silverstein - A Beautiful Place To Drown

Hello and welcome to Rancid Reviews! 

I am born in my ultimate form! Alive and ready to deck the fucking world in!

But seriously, It’s been a while since I’ve done this. If you’re new to the party, I’ll give you a brief rundown. Back in my teen years, as someone who liked to write and also someone who loved music, there was a time where I used to do short reviews of different rock bands. It was a good practice to get an understanding of the music industry and gain some knowledge on how different styles, influences, and genres of individual bands worked in the grand scheme of things.

However, after looking back on some of my past work, I’m willing to admit that I was very fresh to the reviewing process. My opinions were very personal, ill-informed, and more often than not a little unfair, and for that, I apologise. But after a few years of researching music, reading different articles, and re-watching review videos, I’d like to believe that my opinions have grown more mature and objective. With that being said, I’ve decided to start writing reviews again, and perhaps, as well as other artistic/creative or personal projects, it will turn into something close to a career. If not well, at least I’ll get some comfort in forcing my thoughts down your throat…

Anyway, now that I’ve gotten that disclaimer out of the way, let’s dive right in! Today I’m going to be reviewing the Canadian post-hardcore band, Silverstein, and their latest studio album, ‘A Beautiful Place To Drown’. I’m pretty sure that most fans of rock music will have heard of this band. But if you haven’t, then where have you been, buddy?

Silverstein has basically been around for two decades now. The band formed in the year 2000 and rose to moderate fame within the early 2000s Post-hardcore/Emo scene. Their first studio album ‘When Broken is Easily Fixed’ and their second and best-known release, ‘Discovering the Waterfront’ made them a staple for all Screamo lovers. I’ve been a big fan of this group since I was fifteen years old. Silverstein albums are always my favourite to listen to on long car journeys and long walks. Their seventh and eighth studio releases, ‘This is How The Wind Shifts’ and ‘I Am Alive In Everything I Touch’ are particular favourites of mine.

While perhaps not as high on the totem pole of popularity as groups like My Chemical Romance or Bring Me The Horizon, Silverstein’s moderate success throughout the years has lasted due to their sustainability. The band continued their career following along the same lines they’d started with while adapting and building their style with new influences and concepts as they went. I think there’s some comfort in knowing of or listening to a band that sticks to its roots, while also being able to grow and evolve in the music industry. Rather than choosing to move into the typical Metalcore trend that many bands of their type would go for in the late 2000s/early 2010s, the band clung to their Screamo-Pop style which contemporaries such as The Used and AFI began to leave behind.

But as with The Used and AFI (As well as other contemporaries), this journey couldn’t carry on forever. It can be a sad reality sometimes, but from time to time all creative types begin looking towards new challenges. For Silverstein, the first signals of a change came in 2016 - 2017 with the releases, first of their single ‘Ghost’ and then later their ninth studio album ‘Dead Reflections’. While not outlandish or unrecognisable, ‘Dead Reflections’ represented a new horizon for the band. There was a fresh start with a different process of recording music, one that was more commercial which they’d never attempted before. The more melodic riffs that represented loneliness and deep emotions had been replaced with Drop-D chords and more Metalcore inspired breakdowns. While I’m sad to say that ‘Dead Reflections’ isn’t a favourite release of mine, I would like to give credit to songs such as ‘Last Looks’, ‘Ghost’, ‘Aquamarine’, and ‘Cut and Run’ which over the years have become firm new favourites. All in all, this album isn’t my favourite, but it’s not a terrible release.

So with their ninth studio album beginning to deviate into a new direction for Silverstein, it’s understandable that some fans would be a little wary of the band’s next release. I know I definitely was. But this is where my main focus of discussion begins. The arrival of Silverstein’s tenth studio album, ‘A Beautiful Place To Drown’.

It’s three main singles (Not including ‘Burn It Down’) ‘Infinite’, ‘Bad Habits’, and ‘Madness’ were released earlier this year and, there’s definitely something very different about this. If you’re a Silverstein fan and you’ve heard most of their earlier music like I have, then you’ll probably understand what I’m talking about. If not, then i’ll explain for you. One thing that’s always been very significant of Silverstein’s discography is their sub-stream, but very catchy Emo Punk/Post-hardcore style. This is a band who are basically the descendants of 90’s underground groups like Sunny Day Real Estate or The Get Up Kids. They’re namely one of the true descendants of the emo genre. ‘A Beautiful Place To Drown’ doesn’t forget this heritage, but it does replace some of the genres key components with more commercial elements. Synth tracks and sampling, Cleaner vocal recording, a lack of rhythmic guitar and a general lack of tone have replaced the bands more emotive musical depth. To put it simply, this is a pop rock album.

However, this isn’t to say that the album is awful. It’s just very different. But then, most music fans aren’t always very comfortable with different. I know what some of you are thinking. ‘But this isn’t Silverstein! They’re not emo anymore! They’re becoming a Pop band! They’ve sold out!’ and honestly, I’m not really sure if I agree with that sentiment or not. It’s true, this album is very different from anything Silverstein has ever done before, but that’s not actually a bad thing. Also it doesn’t detract from the good things which can be found on this album.

‘Infinite’ might seem like a frightening dip into new waters, coming off like a synth version of a Foo Fighters song, but the soaring chorus is beautiful and the featured vocals of Aaron Gillespie of Underoath is very apt. ‘Bad Habits’ might have an annoying and indulgent music video and sound like a song that would be used for an anime opening, but it is catchy and somewhat reminiscent of earlier songs like ‘Massachusetts’ and ‘In A Better Place’. ‘Madness’ might be disorganised in a bad way, but the vocals are interesting, and the spoken word rapping of Princess Nokia is different, but not unwelcome. But even then, generally singles that are released for an album’s promotion are not the best examples of the album as a whole.  Before you make up your mind about a new album, I always recommend listening to the whole thing first. ‘Burn It Down’, ‘September 14th’, and ‘Take What You Give’, are three songs on the album which show strong signs of the Silverstein we all know and love.

Now, as far as it’s fan reaction goes, I think there are a lot of people who were confused, puzzled, and maybe even disappointed by this release, and that disappointment is completely understandable. Having a band who started off and continued with niche but catchy and energetic style, to then suddenly make a sharp right turn into a more pop centred direction is a bit startling. However, this new release for Silverstein does not actually define who they are, or what they have done before. The reality of being in a band or making music is that after a certain point, it’s okay to try new things and develop your sound. It doesn’t mean you’re selling out, or trying to appeal to a bigger fan base, not necessarily anyway. Because it doesn’t take away or change their past. It also doesn’t mean they might not return to their roots, bigger, better and more masterful of them than they had been.

But above all else, whether you think ‘A Beautiful Place To Drown’ is one of Silverstein’s best or worst, it doesn’t really matter. Because despite getting a mixed review here, the fans still love this band. When you’ve been on a personal journey with a band like this, and loved them the way that fans of Silverstein do, you don’t have to enjoy all their music. Not when there’s plenty of other material by them that you can listen to, and not when there’s every chance you’ll love their future work even more.

I think if I had to give my personal opinion on this album, I’d say this. It’s not perfect, but it can and does grow on you if you let it. I don’t think this album will ever be a favourite of mine or hit me in the way the band members were hoping for, but it will carry a very important meaning to me from now on. My heart has been warmed and comforted by the fact that Silverstein fans love their band so much, choosing to avoid giving them any personal or nasty criticism, and continuing to support them either way. Because when you love something that much, you respect all parts of them, and that at the very least proves that Silverstein are a good band. At the end of the day, you can’t ask for more than that.

As a band in general, including the success of their career and works throughout, I’m going to give Silverstein a solid 9/10. For ‘A Beautiful Place To Drown’ while it’s not something I love, I don’t hate it, so I’ll give it a 5.5/10. If you like heavy rock music with screamed vocals, I would seriously recommend listening to Silverstein. Whether you end up preferring the earlier or newer stuff, it’s all down to you.

If you’ve read all the way to the end of this, thank you very much. I hope even if you don’t know who Silverstein is, it was an enjoyable read for you. This was actually quite fun to write and it was a good step back into writing in general. I’m thinking of doing more reviews as I go along, as well as continuing with my Illustration work, so any support or comment or suggestions for my next reviews is welcome. Thanks again, and I’ll preach to you in the next review.

Rating:
5.5/10