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On February 21st, Silverstein released their 15th full length album, Antibloom. In celebration of their 25th year as a band, the Canada-based band wanted to do something special to commemorate their expansive career. Before Antibloom was officially released, the band shared that they would be releasing this as a double album, with a second to follow later in the year. On September 12th, the second album was finally released to the world, Pink Moon.
The album starts off with the song, “I Love You but I Have to Let You Go”. This is a wide shift from the first album starting off with the heavy hitter of “Mercy Mercy”. If you listen to Antibloom and then Pink Moon directly after, “Cherry Coke” into this first track, it is a very somber start but it also makes sense thematically. The sad message within “Cherry Coke” translates into “I Love You but I Have to Let You Go” very well. Although this beginning doesn’t pack the punch that Silverstein fans have grown to know, it’s a strong start nonetheless.
After Antibloom was with the world for a couple of months, Silverstein began teasing the release of the second album with their first single, “Negative Space”. The second track on the album, this brings the band back to their heavy ways. After a strong album in Antibloom, this is the kind of song that the band needed to get fans excited for the second album, and they did exactly that.
The third track on the album was the second single the band released, and one of two to feature a guest vocalist. Rory Rodriguez from Dayseeker joined Shane Told and the rest of the band to lay down some guest vocals. When asked about the theme of the song, guitarist Paul Marc Rousseau stated, “The premise of the song is very simple: keep your AI out of my art. I wanted every part of the song to feel unexpected and a little out-of-context. Irrational and human. Like, an AI would have never made these choices. The lyrics are irreverent and over-dramatic, but only time will tell if they’re completely science fiction.” Something that the world is beginning to struggle with is the rampant use of AI and the lack of creativity from people, both in creative fields and also from a work/academic perspective. To see a prominent band come out and condemn AI so blatantly is a nice breath of fresh air.
The two tracks that follow are two new ones to the listener, “The Fatalist” and “Widowmaker”. Both songs have a fast and upbeat pace that most Silverstein fans will be used to. They fall under the heavier category of the band’s sound. “The Fatalist” really caught my attention on first listen, coming in with the strong opening lyrics of “We’re playing Russian Roulette with six bullets”. Both of these songs give me older Silverstein vibes which I think fans of the band will really enjoy.
Following these two songs we have another single that was previously released, “Autopilot”. This song contains the other feature on the album, Cassadee Pope. You can read my initial review of the song here! As I mentioned in my original review of the song, this song feels like it was made for both Told and Pope to collab. Pope has a large part in the song, singing the entire second verse and also adding in additional melodies and harmonies. This song strays from what Silverstein normally does, but not in a bad way by any means.
To close out the album, there are two more brand new songs to listeners, “Death Hold” and “Dying Game”. “Death Hold” has a heavier sound like in “The Fatalist” and “Widowmaker” while “Dying Game” closes the album on a more somber note. I am trying very hard to not read too much into it, but with the band closing an album saying “When I’m a memory; Will you remember me?” Silverstein has had a long career, spanning 25 years; let’s hope for 25 more.
The two albums follow the band’s latest release back in 2022, Misery Made Me. Perhaps a controversial take, I believe these two albums are close to Silverstein’s best work to date. This double album shows the diversity and range the band has; they wouldn’t still be around 25 years later if that was the case. If you are a fan of old Silverstein, then I can guarantee that you will like at least one of these 16 songs. The band has truly thrown something in there for everyone. If you are just now discovering Silverstein through these two albums, go back and check out their older work. Perhaps even work backwards on the timeline. You’re in for a real treat.
Silverstein continues to prove why they are one of the largest metalcore bands. As the genre continues to change and evolve, they do as well while also staying true to themselves.
