Silent Winter
The Lost Whisper (MCD) 2005 None
This is the second demo of this new and promising UK-based solo doom metal talent and let me tell you: if Silent Winter continues to improve with each consecutive release at such a rate, we will soon be speaking about one of the UK’s finest doom/death products! The melancholic piano intro immediately captures the atmosphere that Silent Winter subsequently develops on the rest of the demo: slow, sad and with a tragic ability to capture the listener’s darkest emotions. Epic riffs bring to mind old, forgotten glories from the time that the Peaceville three ruled the world of modern doom. Cold, melancholic string keyboards accompany the guitars for most of the album and this subtle addition to the sound of Silent Winter makes the whole a vast improvement compared to the previous demo ‘A Plague to Come’: the keyboards are effective and never stand in the way of the guitar riffs, instead emphasising and accentuating the already existing atmosphere. In the few times that they take the lead, they add an extra epic dimension to the music, like e.g. at the end of the track ‘The Angels Mourned’ where they create epic landscapes similar to those of early Empyrium. Finally, it should be noted that the production of the album is raw and somewhat dry but although there is some room for improvement, it should not stand in the way of your musical enjoyment. This is highly recommended listening for fans of early MDB, Shape of Despair and Anathema and can be obtained by emailing to silentwinter (at) blueyonder (dot) co.uk	1. As the Final Leaf of Autumn Fell 2. The Angels Mourned 3. The Lost Whisper 4. Eternal Rest Approx. 37 minutes
Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou
In death, I am (demo CD) 2006 None
This is already the fourth demo of Kevin Lawry in the last two years, which makes him one of the most prolific members of the doom metal community at this moment. Silent Winter is his brain child, an old school doom death one-man project able to bring forth nostalgic memories of old to those who were once into the glorious yet brutal sound of the Peaceville Three. While Kevin experimented with a more pronounced keyboard sound in the previous outstanding demo ’The Lost Whisper’, this time around the keyboards remain constantly subtly in the background, allowing enough space for the dirgey guitar riffs to breathe. Clean guitar parts are now playing a more prominent role than in previous recordings, occasionally adding a beautiful ambience to the music reminiscent of the glory days of old Anathema while at other times my mind wanders to Rotterdoom stalwarts Officium Triste. Vocally, the project is still mostly characterized by Kevin’s deep grunt, although occasionally he starts introducing some clean vocals as well. The timbre of his voice is warm and fitting to this style of music. However, one gets the impression that he still needs to build up his confidence in this aspect without fearing to give his clean voice a more prominent role in his music. While songwriting is steadily improving with each release (many traditional doom riffs have now made their appearance, giving extra flavour to his melodic doom death) I feel that it is time now for Silent Winter to improve its sound quality as well, as I think that the claustrophobic, dry production might lead this promising project to a premature dead-end. However, I have enough belief in Kevin’s songwriting to rest assured that the next output shall be even better than this (in itself outstanding) demo.	1.In Death, I Am 2.By The Waves 3.The Angels Choirs Approx. 37 minutes
Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou