Silver Knife are an international post-black metal band and this is their debut album.
Featuring members of bands such as Cult of Erinyes and Laster, Silver Knife have produced 42 minutes of harsh, mood-driven black metal.
There’s a range of of material here, from furious aggression to lighter introspection, although the balance is resolutely on the former. Whatever it’s doing, the music aims for atmosphere as its primary goal, and achieves this well. The songs are awash with melancholic emotion, and the entire album is designed to swamp the listener in sorrow and darkness. It also has a hypnotic quality that’s quite enthralling, and I find it rather effortless to just fall into what Unyielding/Unseeing has to offer.
The band’s blackened melodies have a blackgaze influence, and are carefully baked into what the music is doing overall. Keyboards are used subtly, adding texture and understated grandeur. There is also a notable presence from the bass that actually makes an impact. As for the vocals; these are high-pitched wailing screams, buried in the rest of the music as they shriek out in depressive anguish and pain.
This is essentially a cross between atmospheric, depressive, and post-black metal, with elements of blackgaze mixed in. The music succeeds in recalling an amalgamation of bands such as Wolves in the Throne Room, Mare Cognitum, Numenorean, and Alcest, while still having its own personality and strengths.
I really enjoyed Unyielding/Unseeing. Make sure you check this album out and give it the time it deserves.
Wonderbox Metal 