Silhouettes Fall – Silhouettes Fall (self-release, 2024)
With their self-titled debut, Silhouettes Fall, this international outfit steps onto the progressive rock stage like seasoned travelers arriving with dusty passports and heavy amps. Born of a transcontinental collaboration, the band brings together diverse musical sensibilities, but what binds them is their unshakable devotion to instrumental storytelling through the electric guitar.
From the first moments of the opening track, “Mutation,” the tone is set: grand, cinematic, and unabashedly ambitious.
As the album unfolds, we encounter the captivating “Forever A Messenger,” where soaring lead lines flirt with Satriani’s melodicism and Vai’s fretboard theatrics.
“Copy” changes gears with a jazz fusion touch, introducing rhythmic complexities and harmonic swerves that reward repeat listens. And then comes “Construct Quest,” perhaps the album’s emotional core, a slow-burning, blues-infused piece.
To be fair, some heavier, riff-centric material leans into a more generic hard rock territory. Personally, it’s in the album’s progressive currents, those shifting time signatures, layered arrangements, and creative guitar arcs, where Silhouettes Fall truly shines.
Silhouettes Fall includes Armand Svalbe on bass and virtual instruments; and Giampiero Giamp on guitars. Latvian-born and based in Southern Maryland, Armand Svalbe is a self-taught bassist and multi-instrumentalist known for his fusion of rock, electronic, and metal styles. His music spans a broad range of influences, including industrial, black metal, ambient synth-pop, avant-garde, and progressive metal. Inspired by his father’s musicianship, Svalbe began playing bass at 16 and performed in various bands throughout the late 1990s. Although he occasionally plays guitar, bass remains his primary instrument. A strong advocate for creative autonomy, he typically self-produces and self-releases his work. Following the disbandment of his live band Skelectory at the onset of the pandemic, Svalbe turned to remote collaborations with international artists. His key influences include Devin Townsend, Johan Edlund, and Ihsahn.
Giampiero Giamp is an Italian guitarist from Orvieto with a background in both western classical and contemporary music. He began his musical career at age 8 on the baritone horn and debuted with a philharmonic orchestra at 12. By 14, he had transitioned to electric guitar, teaching himself to play and developing a style rooted in shredding, metal and progressive metal. While some of his early band projects dissolved, Giampiero has continued to evolve, focusing on international collaborations and digital outreach. His main influences include John Petrucci and guitar heroes like Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen.
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