Borealis – World of Silence MMXVII

Re-recording albums is almost always a bad idea. There isn’t a single example that even comes to mind as surpassing, or even matching the original record. But with Borealis’ “World of Silence”, it actually made sense to re-record it. While the album boasted the group’s best songwriting by far, it was also their weakest record in terms of production quality and lead singer Matt Marinelli’s vocal skills. Both of those elements have improved exponentially on the two subsequent releases, so creating “World of Silence MMXVII” actually seemed like it could work.

Before going further with this review, it’s worth mentioning that this is probably the most difficult review I’ve ever had to do. “World of Silence” was practically the soundtrack to high school for me. I listened to it more than any other album, so re-recording it is a risky proposition, even if the band had the potential to make things better. After listening to the 2017 version of this album, it is immediately clear why re-recordings are so hated. This album may feature the same songs as the original did 9 years ago, but it is vastly different in its approach.

It’s best to start with the two elements I was excited about. Something seems to have gone wrong with Matt’s vocals. He rarely goes into a high register on this record, as though he’s scared of trying to hit those notes. When he does make that effort, such as in the chorus to “Eyes of a Dream”, he’s clearly straining his voice, despite how good it sounds. The problem is that his lower voice on this record sounds much more monotone and uninteresting than any of his other performances. It's as though he has sung these songs too many times before and just wants to move onto something new. In a vocally-driven song like “From The Fading Screams”, Matt constantly sounds uncomfortable, almost like he’s aware that he can’t pull this song off anymore.

This is something that is concerning far beyond the re-recording: I don’t know if the band can continue on if Matt’s vocals have deteriorated so substantially. Given the band’s descent from power metal gods to prog metal apathy over the years, the vocals were the last thing left truly saving them. Matt’s vocals on the original version of this album may not have matched “Fall From Grace” or “Purgatory”, but they were much better than they are here.

And then there’s the production. This album does have a modern metal sound to it, but the problem is that the guitars are downtuned too much. Borealis can pull it off on their more progressive material because the music is designed to chug along, but these songs were written to be played in a more normal tuning. The rhythm guitars are often too heavy and sound cluttered. Even the keyboards don’t sound right on this record. Perhaps this is an instance of my extreme bias towards the original, but before hearing the keyboards on the 2008 version of this album, I hated listening to keyboards in metal. Sean Werlick's playing on that record completely changed my perspective of how the instrument could be used successfully. Similar to Matt’s vocals, the production on the original “World of Silence” wasn’t even that bad; it was just that the band improved on it over the next two records. “World of Silence MMXVII” once again marks a step backwards for Borealis.

To the band’s credit, a re-recording does provide opportunity for doing things differently, and there are a couple of opportunities where the band capitalizes on that. The opening guitar lines in “Midnight City” are now harmonized much more effectively, and a track like “The Dawning Light” is still killer no matter how much the band tries to darken the atmosphere. Unfortunately, it is this bleaker approach that ruins tracks like “World of Silence” or “The Afterlife”. Compared to the originals, they are sad efforts that show the band’s current path into prog metal.

At this point, I wonder if I’m just being overly picky on an album that changed my life. Borealis are clearly better musicians (vocals aside) in 2017 than they were in 2008, but even the solos on this album sound sloppy compared to the original. Shred-heavy songs like “World of Silence” and especially “The Dawning Light” featured incredible climaxes with their guitar solos, and now it sounds like the band can’t even play them as cleanly as they once did. 

It’s not really worth piling onto this album further than I already have. It’s not an awful record; after all, it features some of the best songwriting of all-time. But as a longtime fan of the band, it’s a very difficult listen, particularly if you don’t like the direction they’ve taken in recent years. It’s now clearer than ever to me why re-recordings are so universally hated, as one of my favourite bands managed to take an album I still worship, and tear it apart. All “World of Silence MMXVII” has done is made me want to relisten to the original. I may spin this record once in a while, but 99 times out of 100, it will be the 2008 version that is getting played.

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Highlights

"Midnight City"

"Eyes of a Dream"

"The Dawning Light"

Final Rating

3.5/5 or 70%. 

Written by Scott

Borealis – Purgatory

One style of metal that Canada truly excels at is power metal. Yet for all the years I’ve listened to this subgenre, no Canadian band has even approached the brilliance of Orangeville group Borealis. Their debut album “World of Silence” was probably my most listened to album throughout high school, and the follow-up record, “Fall From Grace”, while stylistically quite different, was almost just as great. The shift between the two records was from a more traditional power metal sound in the vein of Stratovarius or Sonata Arctica to something heavier and more progressive like Evergrey or Symphony X. Personally, I’m not really a fan of the latter bands, but “Fall From Grace” was still an incredible record. For that reason, the band’s third record, “Purgatory”, was definitely one that worried me. The transformation of this band is largely complete, as they’ve completely dropped most of the elements of their older sound, and the result is actually much better than I expected.

Part of the reason why Borealis pulls off this sound so well is due to the development of vocalist Matt Marinelli. He’s always been a good singer, but there were a couple of moments on the debut that felt a bit awkward vocally. Throughout the years, he has been able to project his voice a lot better and ends up sounding far more confident than he used to as a singer. Although he can hit some high notes, his voice is on the lower end when it comes to power or progressive metal singers, which is a refreshing change.

Aside from the vocals, “Purgatory” is especially effective in creating an intense atmosphere. This is due in large part to keyboard player Sean Werlick. He occasionally stands out with melodies of his own, but he excels when playing chords to support the rest of the band. This is something he has done well throughout every Borealis record (in fact, I didn’t even like keyboards in metal until hearing “World of Silence” for the first time). Sometimes bands in this style of music get off the tracks when they lose sight of the fact that metal is usually guitar-driven, but that doesn’t really happen on “Purgatory”. This means that both the aforementioned Marinelli and other guitarist Michael Briguglio are always delivering great riffs. The band sounds like they’re playing in a lower tuning than the old days, but the result sounds incredibly heavy. There is plenty of chugging on this album (though not as many blatant breakdowns as in the past), but Borealis still offers fantastic riffs as well. The solos are a little more difficult to judge; on the one hand, they’re well-composed and fit the music perfectly, but the old solos were so mindblowing that it is a slight letdown (“The Afterlife” and “Forgotten Forever” are two that come to mind).

The changes on “Purgatory” are not really what make it a better or worse album than the band’s previous work. This new sound fits Borealis perfectly. The reason why this album doesn’t hold up as well as the first two for me is that the songwriting isn’t as strong or consistent throughout. The first issue is that there are 12 songs on the album, and they can be hard to differentiate at times. The first 6 songs are all up there with anything the band has done in the past, as is “Revelation”, but on the second half of the album, it feels like the band is just continuing to explore already-trodden territory. Filler might be a harsh term, but some of these songs are the only ones in Borealis’ catalogue where even after numerous listens, I can’t pick them out by the title.  

With that said, it’s worth delving into some of the other songs because they show the band’s talent well. “Revelation” is the band’s most epic moment, and the perfect track to end the album with (the feelings it conjures definitely remind one of the previous album’s closing track “Forgotten Forever”). “From The Ashes” continues the band’s theme of bringing in guest vocalists, as this song features local singer Sarah Dee quite prominently. She actually compliments Marinelli really well, and this makes the song stand out considerably. “My Peace” was the first song released from the album, and is definitely among the stronger tracks, due in large part to the emotional chorus driven by a fantastic vocal performance.

Overall, “Purgatory” is another stellar effort. This review might seem a little negative, but it’s incredibly difficult to judge a band that has had as big of an impact on me as Borealis has. You know a record is good when it’s in a style where you don’t like any other bands that are similar, yet it’s an album of the year contender. It seems unlikely the band will ever move back to a standard power metal direction, but they don’t really need to. If this record were a few songs shorter, it would be even better, but either way, it is still an essential listen!

Be sure to check out and like Borealis on Facebook!

Highlights

"From The Ashes"

"The Chosen One"

"My Peace"

"Revelation"

Final Rating

4.75/5 or 95%. 

Written by Scott