Scar For Life – 3 minute Silence

Releasedate: 10-09-2012; Label: Infektion Records
By: Martine Goffard

3 Minute Silence is just the third album of the band Scar for Life and still you have the impression that this band has been playing for ages. The Portuguese have used drastic measures to reach the top and we can just say that it works pretty well.

We have one orchestra and no less than three guests; respectively the violinist Anne Vitorino d’Almeida, the keyboardist Ged Ryland and the Finnish singer Kari Vähäkuopus (Catamenia). Though that considering Leonel Silva’s facilities to jump from one vocal range to another, the guy could have carried the whole production on his shoulders if it had been needed. He starts with aggressive and rough screams on Last Crow, switches to some crooner’s voice on One More Day and ends as the classic metal tenor on Brave Enough. As for the music, we could describe it as electro – industrial metal with a few pop songs. The keyboard effects are brilliant, as well as the guitar solos. Quite every song starts with a piano or an acoustic guitar intro, which brings you to meditate on the theme of the album. As the cover shows it, the songs are about disease, pain and death. It may explain why we cross the different phases, from anger, despair, to hope and love. Last Crow is a pure metal composition, heavy and violent; when One More Day is the typical love song, limit cheesy with its violin and made me think of some Phil Collins song. Old Man is a bit similar and the violin is downright folk by the end. We regret two things: some titles are too mainstream and 12 songs are definitely too much for an album. Brave Enough closes 3 Minute Silence and gathers all the different elements displayed in the songs to make them explode here like a melodious firework!

Line up:
Leonel Silva – vocals
Alexandre Santos – guitars, bass
Sérgio Faria – guitars
João Colaço – drums
Nelson Raposo – piano

Tracklist: 01. Last Crow 02. Metabolic 03. White Shades 04. Interlude 1948 05. Burn It All (feat. Kari Vähäkuopus) 06. Before The Storm 07. One More Day (feat. Anne Vitorino d’Almeida) 08. 3 Minute Silence 09. The Journey 10. Old Man (feat. Anne Vitorino d’Almeida) 11. Brave Enough (feat. Ged Ryland) 12. One More Day (instrumental version)

Links:
Scar For Life Facebook