Some time ago, I had the opportunity to get my hands on a demo and a promo cd of a Greek band called Silent Birth that are expected to release their debut album in the summer of 2009. The quartet started take action mainly after 2006 composing its own songs with influences ranging from Black Sabbath and Metallica up to Paradise Lost, Anathema and Tool creating their own style and sound, with several alternative and progressive metal elements.

Their demo "Birth Of Silence" contains 5 songs with main characteristic the very beautiful and smart, slow or mid-tempo, guitar riffs. The keyboards have mostly a supporting role by creating the appropriate atmosphere and putting the finishing touches to the songs. Their music is simple and effective without highly technical elements and with a few solos, which is in no case negative while all tracks leave very good impressions. Also the sound is fairly good for a demo. Regarding the promo (which contains material recorded after the demo), it contains 6 songs 3 of which are covers. Listening to the 3 samples someone could notice that the band is experimenting more with its sound, making it heavier in some points and giving a more important role to the keyboards. The only ‘black spot’ in the 2 cd is the more mediocre vocals (handled by the guitarist) that moderate somewhat the final result.

In general, Silent Birth gave me a very positive impression and I await with interest their debut hoping it will be even better and with improved vocals. For anyone who wants to learn more about the band and listen to their songs, you can visit their pagewww.myspace.com/silentbirth.