Weeping Silence - ISLES OF LORE CD

Weeping Silence is back with their first new studio album since 2015´s “Opus IV Oblivion”, and it was worth the wait for sure. “Isles of Lore” is the bands fifth album release, and it´s inspired by the timeless allure of Maltese folklore characters, creatures and legends. Musically it´s everything you can wish for in a progressive metal album. It´s dark, raw, beautiful and epic and will keep you on your toes from the beginning to the end.
Since 2018, Weeping Silence has merged its earlier atmospheric Gothic Doom roots with the more eclectic, dynamic and conceptual approach that characterises the current musical direction. For the past four years the band has been working on a body of work that revolves around Maltese mythical characters that have recently been making their way back into popular culture.
The rich stories surrounding these characters are unique to the island of Malta and have been passed on from generation to generation to impart wisdom and cautionary tales. The dark thread running through these timeless stories inspired the band to create a body of work that features one character in every track. For instance:
“Engulfer” refers to an aquatic monster that lives in the darkest depths of wells. Parents used to warn children not.to get too close to wells out of fear of being engulfed by this manifestation of evil.
“The Watcher on the Walls” is about a guardian spirit that watches over households and provides goods in exchange for a strict adherence to a code of silence.
“The Collector” is about the character “Censa l-Mewt” - roughly a female equivalent of the grim reaper that collects souls at the end of one’s life. “Censa” is derived from “Cens” (meaning ground rent) - implying a collection of debt due.
“The Legend of Matteo Falzon” is about an unorthodox heretic of noble origin that dodges the Inquisition’s wrath by cunningly escaping via a water barrel. Other characters that have inspired new tracks include “Il-Gawgaw”, “Sansuna”, “L-Ghajn” and “Is-Serpentin”.
The song writing of these tracks’ ranges from conventional structures to lengthier compositions – the most striking being a 16-minute progressive metal track based on film language structure. This body of work has been consolidated via a recording at Spinesplitter Studio in 2022. The album is mastered at Fascination Street Studios (Sweden) by world-renowned Jens Bogren who is known for his work with Opeth, Katatonia, Sepultura, Devin Townsend, Dark Tranquility, Haken, Leprous, James Labrie, Septic Flesh, etc.