The Swiss freaks known as Silver Dust recently released this 11-song record of theirs via Fastball Music and it is basically a rather cool hybrid between dark metal, goth rock, and a few electronic elements. Following a carnivalesque intro, we are treated to punchy and symphonic metal cuts that bring to mind such acts as Paradise Lost, Peccatum, Vulture Industries, and Tiamat, but without sounding like any of them, really. It is merely some of the melodies and moods that remind yours truly of the aforementioned acts.

The keyboards occupy an important and highly prominent role in Silver Dust’s morose musical landscape. There is a certain grandeur to some parts and sections, but unfortunately, some of them veer into too pompous territory and come across as cliched and devoid of substance. The band manage to evoke a sense of longing and despair by means of huge chords and doomy riffs in an effective manner, but the deep and dark vocals do not always hit the mark and can be a rather frustrating experience. However, most of the time they are somewhat decent, but they are simply a tad too monotonous and one-dimensional some of the time. There are truly cool tracks such as "Forever" and "Once Upon a Time" to be found on the disc, but then you also have to suffer through awful ones such as "La La La La" and "Bette David Eyes". In that sense, it is an uneven offering that often loses momentum.

The production is quite meaty and booming, which suits the song material nicely, and there is a Victorian feel to the tunes that conjures up visions of foggy alleys, dangerous encounters, and sinister secrets. The musicians are skilled and quite capable of writing catchy songs, but in the overall perspective, "House 21" is not as engaging or captivating as it could have been. It is steeped in atmosphere and not necessarily the kind of record one would bring along to a party, if you catch my drift, but it is at times both entertaining and delightfully wicked to listen to without being remarkable or outstanding as such. In other words, it is not as exciting or adventurous as I was hoping for, but fans of gothic music might want to give it a number of spins and check it out as it has plenty of drama and theatricality to it. I just wish that it was way more consistent and solid than it is.

 

https://www.silver-dust.net/