Project Description

CANCER

‘Into the Heartless Silence’

Album Review

Reviewer – Chris Reid

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Cancer

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“Into The Heartless Silence” on Spotify

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Into the Heartless Silence is the debut full length from Australian DSBM/Black metal act Cancer.

I’ll confess that when it comes to Black metal I generally don’t get into the modern subgenres (suicidal, depressive and atmospheric etc); Into the Heartless Silence (the full length to Cancer’s Terminal EP) is certainly an exception to this statement though. 

Given that there has been a Band called Cancer doing the rounds since the 80’s (Cancer, the UK Death/Thrash Metal band) it has always struck me to be a little strange that this act were happy to call themselves Cancer too, given how much of a band’s identity is built on it’s name. However, given how prevalent and impactful the disease of Cancer is in society, it is probably a fitting name for a band who seek to convey maximum sonic misery to the listener.

Into the Heartless Silence takes you on a bleak and tortured  journey, narrated by the other worldly shrieks and howls of vocalist John Pescod. The album is founded on atmospheric, and sometimes progressive arrangements, juxtaposed with some of the most unhinged  black metal vocals that you will hear. The instrumentation is really well developed and despite the variation of moods the vocals blind the work together creating an exceptionally cohesive result. Without labouring the point, the vocals are a major point of interest for me on this release. The styles employed on this album are varied, and in many cases quite unique too – it’s certainly the vocals that keep me invested throughout the 8 tracks.

It’s really hard for me to single out particular tracks for specific praise – the album really needs to be digested as a whole. Notwithstanding this,  the book ends of the album Ad Nauseam and Wehe Mir are particularly strong.

DSBM and Atmospheric Black Metal isn’t for everyone, and certainly isn’t my favourite genre of heavy music –  however don’t let preconceived ideas about genre get in the way of checking this album out. Into the Heartless Silence is a well-crafted piece of art which is a very enjoyable listen.

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Cancer

Courtesy of JV Photo & Film

 

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AMNPLIFY – DB