Silverstein – Misery Made Me CD (UNFD)

It has been a couple of months since legendary Canadian post-hardcore group Silverstein released Misery Made Me, their eleventh full-length album. As far as I am informed, the album received many praises from music critics and the broader auditorium, and there’s really no wonder about it. Since its inception in 2000, Silverstein has maintained quality with each new release, and that’s the case with Misery Made Me as well. After all, the introductory singles, such as Bankrupt, It’s Over, Ultraviolet, Die Alone, and Live Like This, served as perfect examples of what you might expect from this material. Silverstein and UNFD heavily promoted these tracks on the web and social media, and although these tracks are proper bangers, the remainder of this full-length maybe sounds even better.

Misery Made Me carries eleven outstanding compositions, solely performed in classic Silverstein style. If you ever doubted the quality of this experienced band, this material will completely reassure you and restore your love for their music. There are so many good moments included on the album that you’ll spend days grasping them all. Silverstein stacked this fine piece of sonic artistry with sheer aggression, heaviness, and dynamics, but also, expect some mellower moments. In case you lived under the rock for the last twenty years and somehow missed this band, Silverstein nurtures quite a specific post-hardcore sound. I say specific because it’s not something you stumble upon every day. Of course, some of their maneuvers resemble something any other renowned post-hardcore would do, but Silverstein lean towards that complex, detailed, energetic side of post-hardcore. Besides fundamentals of the post-hardcore genre, you’ll notice this band embraces some of the best properties of hardcore, metalcore, pop-punk, emo, screamo, and indie. They thoroughly combined everything into a colossal slab of harmonious noise, and there’s no way you’re not going to love it.

Silverstein cleverly assembled each composition, so you will not find any weak moments while listening to Misery Made Me. Each track possesses a thoroughly planned structure decorated with powerful guitar riffs, shreds, licks, themes, melodies, and harmonies. Of course, nothing would sound so heavy without semi-distorted low-end tones. Like the remainder of the band, bass guitar shines brightly throughout the entire album, and I adore how the sound engineer/producer volumed up this particular instrument in the mix. Nothing would sound so extremely dynamic without flawlessly performed complex rhythmic sequences, detailed accentuations, catchy drum fills, and other percussive acrobatics. The lead vocals shine bright in the limelight throughout the album with all those classic hardcore shoutouts, low-end growls, and high-pitched screams. However, the singer also perfectly handles clean singing parts, especially during the pop-punk, emo, and indie moments. Silverstein retain the same energy no matter if they’re exploring heavier or mellower sound, and the bands capable of doing this are considered a rarity nowadays. It’s also good to mention that Silverstein included some guests like Andrew Neufeld (Comeback Kid), Mike Hranica (The Devil Wears Prada), Trevor Daniel, and nothing.nowhere on particular tracks. Don’t miss this album if you’re into contemporary post-hardcore sound because there are high possibilities you’ll love it. Head to UNFD for more information about ordering.