Dormant Silent Skies

• 1 Construct 04:55
• 2 New Life 04:48
• 3 Churches 05:02
• 4 Just Above The Clouds 04:11
• 5 Reset 04:40
• 6 Tides 03:56
• 7 The Real Me 06:28
• 8 Light Up The Dark 04:09
• 9 Dormant 04:53
• 10 The Last On Earth 05:32
• 11 The Trooper 04:06
• 12 Dancing In The Dark 04:47
• 13 Numb 03:33
• Total Runtime 01:01:00

Info for Dormant

Eine neue Ära des Symphonic Metal! Wann immer EVERGREY-Frontmann Tom S. Englund und der US-amerikanische Pianist/Komponist Vikram Shankar (Redemption, Lux Terminus) zusammenkommen und ihre Kreativität gemeinsam als SILENT SKIES nach außen kehren, entsteht Magie! Mit Dormant veröffentlicht das schwedisch-amerikanische Cinematic-Pop-Duo nun das nächste magische Stück Musik. Das dritte Studioalbum von Englund und Shankar erscheint am 1. September 2023 über Napalm Records. Getragen von vertonten Emotionen und skandinavischer Melancholie reiht sich Dormant in die klangliche Welt der vorherigen Alben Nectar (2022) und Satellites (2020) ein und bietet atemberaubende Klaviermelodien, atmosphärische Keyboards, weitläufige Soundlandschaften und eindringlich schöne und intensive Vocals auf zehn Eigenkompositionen, begleitet von mehreren Bonustracks. Für Letztere haben SILENT SKIES bekannte Klassiker gecovert, unter anderem von Iron Maiden und Linkin Park, und diese an ihren ganz eigenen, unverkennbaren Sound angelehnt.

Auf Dormant lädt der atmosphärische Eröffnungstrack „Construct" die Hörer dazu ein, die beiden Musiker auf einer gefühlvollen Reise zu begleiten. „New Life“ schlägt hingegen dunklere Pfade ein. Englunds einfühlsamer Gesang spricht direkt zur Seele und harmoniert perfekt mit Shankars ausgefeilter Instrumentierung, die von zartem Piano getragen und einer einnehmenden Produktion unterstrichen wird. Das harmonische „Churches" sowie das Pop-inspirierte „Just Above The Clouds" – Letzteres mit einem fesselnden Solo des Leprous/Musk Ox-Cellisten Raphael Weinroth-Browne – bauen sich zu einem hypnotischen Tagtraum auf, um in den gefühlvollen Tönen von Dormant zu versinken. Einfühlsam kreieren „Reset" und „Tides" schier endlose melancholische Klanglandschaften, während das ergreifende „The Real Me" mit elektronischen Tönen eine weitere Facette des Albums aufzeigt.

Die durch und durch stimmige Zusammenarbeit beider Künstler bildet das Fundament aller SILENT SKIES Kreationen. Durch viel Feingefühl und Liebe zum Detail, gepaart mit tiefgründigen, ausdrucksstarken Lyrics, entsteht ein einzigartiger Charakter, der mit jedem Ton die Handschrift von Englund und Shankar trägt. Auf das tief bewegende „Light Up The Dark" und den Titeltrack „Dormant" folgt mit „The Last On Earth" die letzte Eigenkomposition des Albums.

Das dritte Werk von SILENT SKIES ist melancholisch und beruhigend, aber auch sprudelnd und glühend – es erweitert das klangliche Universum des Duos in alle Richtungen. Dormant reflektiert das Leben selbst und ist das Ergebnis mutiger klanglicher Experimente in Verbindung mit genau der künstlerischen Ästhetik, die SILENT SKIES auszeichnet. Mit ihrer Musik schreiben Tom S. Englund und Vikram Shankar so intensive Geschichten wie das Leben selbst und erreichen damit Menschen in unterschiedlichsten Lebenslagen mit verschiedensten musikalischen Vorlieben.

Tom S. Englund, Gesang
Vikram Shankar, Keyboards

Silent Skies
Something gloriously unexpected happens once you leave the safety of your comfort zone behind. Setting sails for new adventures and new horizons is also what Tom Englund of Swedish melancholic metal masters Evergrey and renowned classical pianist Vikram Shankar are doing. Their mutual brainchild Silent Skies is like an ocean of melancholy, a sublime tapestry on which they project their gentle, breezing, touching cinematic music.

Scandinavian melancholy is more than just a cliché in the loud and drastic world of rock and metal. It’s a tangible, omnipresent state of mind, buried deep within every soul in the Northern Hemisphere. On their soaring, touching sophomore album “Nectar”, transatlantic duo Silent Skies shows what’s at the very core of melancholic music once you delete distorted guitars and expressive drumming: a nucleus of piano-driven, orchestral, shimmering music reminiscent of some calmer Anathema works or the wistful visions of Ólafur Arnalds. So beautiful it makes you cry. So painful it makes you heal.

Everything began a few years back when Englund stumbled across one of Shankar’s piano renditions of an Evergrey song. “I instantly realized that he understood what Evergrey was all about,” Englund says. “I don’t think we would have ever worked together were it not for this.” Shankar has been an Evergrey fan ever since his high school days. “They are part of my musical DNA,” the artist from North Carolina states. “I listened to them for years and years. The way they made music influenced my way of writing and playing, too. When Tom and I are making music, I instantly know what he wants to say. We speak a common musical language. We both want to express that which touches us profoundly. Only then,” the pianist says, “music can truly move others.”

“Nectar” indeed is a moving affair. Yet, it’s so much more than Evergrey-esque tunes set to piano, cello, samples and subtle percussion. “Our music allows you to get to a state of calmer breathing,” says Englund. “To reflect, to take time for yourself. To me, this is just as heavy as heavy metal. We just took away the distorted guitars and the drums.” His virtuosic friend nods in agreement. “I have always been interested in capturing heavy music with my piano. I have been doing piano arrangements of metal songs for a decade now and I have always loved how a piano can stage a whole metal song – with the deep percussive low end and the high shimmering keys. If the listener is willing to take a leap of faith with us, they will discover a lot of kindred spirit between this and metal music.”

Even more so than on their praised debut “Satellites” they channel the elegiac spirit of Anathema or Katatonia and wreath it into a soaring ocean of sound not unlike a movie score like “Interstellar”. It’s monumental without being pretentious, grand without being over-produced. “There’s a human presence in the songs,” Tom agrees. “This kind of music is too delicate to be produced the way a metal album is produced.” Gentle and with great care, these two kindred spirits have created an album so achingly beautiful it deserves to be heard all over the world. “The piano you can hear on the album is actually my childhood piano in my parents’ home in Cleveland, Ohio,” beams Vikram. “I always wanted to use this piano for a serious, heartfelt project but it never felt right. Bringing a part of my heritage and upbringing to this project means a lot to me.”

His old piano is joined by some bubbling Moog, retro synthesizers from the 1980s and live cello courtesy of Raphael Weinroth-Browne (Leprous), caressed by Englunds heartfelt, aching, breaking voice. “The way he sings makes you listen to every single word,” Shankar says. “It’s as if Tom is speaking directly to you. It’s very beautiful and poetic.” It’s important, too: Englund addresses issues of mental health that are still not talked about enough. “Our personal issues set an important foundation of understanding each other and getting it when one of us doesn’t have the energy to work on music. We know how it feels when you question yourself as a musician.”

This is not just another lockdown project. It’s a personal matter of deepest importance for the two, almost reluctantly shared with the rest of the world. Englund, ever the laconic Swede, grins: “It’s sad music alright. Yet this sad and wistful music gives us an energy we don’t get when we listen to AC/DC. It brings you to explore your inner self.” by Bjorn Springorum

This album contains no booklet.