The new project from Symphony X bassist Mike LePond, Silent Assassins is a beautiful throwback to the heroic metal albums of the eighties, drawing upon a wide range of influences from Judas Priest and Iron Maiden to Dio and Black Sabbath. Featuring an assembled cast of virtuoso musicians, Silent Assassins features Alan Tecchio (Watchtower, Hades, Non-fiction) on vocals, Metal Mike (Halford, Testament) on lead guitar and Michael Romeo (Symphony X) also on lead guitar as well as keyboards and drum programming. Together, Silent Assassins pay tribute to the genre of heavy metal, bringing together myriad influences to deliver an album that combines a thoroughly modern sound with all the power and passion of traditional heavy metal, making the album something of an essential listen for metal heads everywhere.
All too often the role of bassist is overlooked in metal bands, despite the fact that a bassist can effectively make or break a band’s sound. There are, of course, celebrated bassists such as John Myung (Dream Theater) or Steve Harris who have done much to bring the oft-ignored musicality of the instrument to the fore, and to their ranks we can add Mike LePond for, whilst opening track ‘apocalypse rider’ is led by a turbo-charged riff that sounds like a cross between Iron Maiden and ‘kill ‘em all’-era Metallica, it is impossible to ignore the thunderous bass which underpins the track with deadly accuracy. However, whilst the gruelling riff may be the opening barrage that signals the start of the battle, the secret weapon which is set to end it is Alan Tecchio’s heroic vocal assault which soars from the heart of the mix. It’s the sort of life-affirming metal assault that sets the blood pumping and there’s no doubting the adrenalin rush that greets the song’s huge chorus and wild bouts of soloing. With such an impressive start there’s always the worry that the quality could dip, but Mike LePond has no such intention and ‘Red Death’ kicks off with a Moroccan feel that recalls the wild flights of fancy of Page and Plant’s epic ‘unledded’ album before building into a restless charge filled with all the blood and thunder you could wish for. Moving into Baroque territory, ‘the quest’ is the sort of bold, fantasy-fuelled metal you might expect from Manowar or Maiden at their most epic, with Mike’s stunning bass work leading a charge into the valley of death as riffs combine from the left and right, flanking Alan’s fearsome war cry. With a melody that is as irresistible as the riffs are huge, ‘the quest’ is a seven-minute monster that will have you leaping from your seat in excitement.
With a remarkable bass solo leading the way, ‘the outsider’ is a direct metal assault that serves to leave the listener breathless. Whether it be the brutal precision of the drums, Alan’s raw, rage-fuelled vocal or the dextrous guitar riffs, ‘the outsider’ is a monster. Not to be outdone, ‘’Masada’ may dispense with the ferocious riffing, but where it tones down the metal, it ramps up the emotional power that lies at the heart of every song on offer here, becoming a folk-infused metal anthem in the process and it’s easy to imagine the song taking metal festivals the world over by storm. In contrast, ‘Silent assassins’ is a ferocious, red-blooded monster that imbues the epic metal leanings with the stripped-down punk metal of Motorhead to mesmerising effect. As the name implies, ‘Ragnarok’ is pure, Viking-infused metal with a vocal performance to die for and suitably crashing riffs whilst ‘the progeny’ has a Sabbath vibe amidst its doom-infused riffs and slower, heavier pace. An album highlight, ‘the progeny’ possibly finds its closest parallel with the Dio-fronted Heaven and Hell album ‘the devil you know’ and the lengthy build-up that leads into the song only serves to heighten the excitement when the churning riffs finally emerge. It’s a superb track with each musician at the very peak of their abilities, not least Alan, who outdoes himself vocally on the track. The album ends with the colossal epic ‘
Mike Lepond’s Silent Assassins project is without a doubt one of the best full-blooded metal albums out there. With nods to Dio, Sabbath, Maiden, priest and Zeppelin, the album harks back to the truly classic metal albums of the seventies and eighties whilst simultaneously adding modern production values and a sense of personal involvement that can only come from a lifetime spent in service to the world of heavy metal. There’s real love here – of the genre, the spirt and the community – and every raging track underscores not only a ferocious ability but also a desire to produce a record that is essentially a love letter to metal. The musicians, all seasoned pros, have come together shorn of ego and desirous only of creating something of lasting value and, in that, they have succeeded. ‘Silent assassins’ is every bit the beast its creators imagined and is more or less essential to anyone who claims love for metal.
