INTERVIEW WITH SILENT ANGEL

Silent Angel!

The Interview!

By Darkzen

02/03/2024

Official Info

An international collective Silent Angel, an Italian / Malaysian-based band that has its foundations deeply rooted in power and symphonic metal with a mix of progressive along with Japanese metal influence. Silent Angel's debut album "Unyielding, Unrelenting" has been a long time coming. Working on a shoestring budget, Silent Angel started off by recording some demos and put out a roughly recorded EP just to see if the music had potential and it did. Changing their lineup along with the global pandemic setting things back by a few years, through all the trials and tribulations, their hard work, dedication, and efforts are finally coming to fruition. Immerse yourself in the music and let it give you the strength and courage to face your demons and overcome adversity. There will be a Silent Angel, a guardian, a protector that will give you that sliver of hope and nudge to push on and fight for a better future as you listen to ten tracks of power/symphonic metal.

Hello Band! Thank you very much for having this Interview with you!

Eric:

Hey Darkzen! So stoked and honored to be doing this interview with you! Thanks for the support and having us!

How have you all been?

Eric:

We’re doing good, but as always, things could be better.

Claudia:

Ups and downs. Music luckily makes everything more bearable. Anyway, we’re still excited for our recent album release!

How is the start of the year, do you already have dates for any presentations or tours?

Eric:

We’re having a pretty good start for 2024 so far. We’ve been getting consistent sales of the physical copy of our álbum and more positive reviews from our new supporters and listeners. Our label even sold out the 1st press batch of CDs during the Xmas season.

We’re finalizing plans for a huge showcase at a popular club in Kuala Lumpur very soon and a supporting acoustic show to be aired live on national radio broadcast.

We’re also planning a Japan tour for the end of the year in four major cities.

How about the reviews of your new album Unyielding, Unrelenting?

Eric:

Overall, we’ve had generally very positive and favorable reviews from a lot of webzines and published media from around the world. Our supporters are also really digging the music and songs. This is most definitely encouraging and propels us to move forward to produce a follow up album.

What's behind the production of this album?

Eric:

The production of the album was a real challenge in itself. We started sometime in 2018 in a different studio but we weren’t satisfied. A subsequent massive search culminated in discovering our present engineer and co-producer, Rahmad Kamikaze of RK39 Productions. Hit with the Covid-19 pandemic and changes in the band’s lineup during the recording process had impacted us with massive setbacks and we had to re-record all the parts from the beginning when we introduced a new drummer and keyboardist halfway through the production process.

Nailing the right sound for our album during mixing and mastering was another big challenge for our engineer, as he found Silent Angel’s music to be very unique and outstanding in terms of the musical style and arrangement: it blends elements of Power and Symphonic Metal with Japanese Visual Metal and some elements of melodic hard rock, thus creating something entirely new that he hadn’t done before in his 30 odd years of audio and music production.

With its strong, symphonic and fast sound, did it take you time to compose this album?

Eric:

The songs in the album were written in different timelines that span decades with one of the songs being written way back in 1998 and about 6 were written around the mid 2010s and 3 of them were written during the early days of the recording sessions. So in a way, yes, it took time to get all the songs into place for the album, but during the composition and arrangement process, the general idea, flow and structure of the song doesn’t take too long to compose. It can take anything from a few minutes to about half an hour to get the progression, melody, lyrics and general arrangement penned onto paper. It’s the refinement of the parts that takes a bit longer as each band member needs to blend the general idea with their own unique musical style.

Any of the songs on this album that are your favorite?

Eric:

That’s a very, very tough question actually as I like all the songs that I had composed. However, if I were to pick my top 3, I’d have to go with Against The Tides, Twilight Of The Black Rose and Aurora’s Dream and it’s hugely due to Claudia’s vocal ability that draws out and expresses the raw emotions that I had invested while composing the songs

Claudia:

It’s tough for me too, but I’m particularly in love with A Destiny in Shadows, which is the first song that I recorded for Silent Angel and that I find extremely energetic and catchy, and Descent into Infinity, that features a very nice powerful back and forth between me and Gracie in the chorus.

Claudia Beltrame, a super voice! Tell us about yourself! How did you come to this band? Your musical influences?

Claudia:

Thank you very much! It's a long story, actually. Back in 2017 Eric stumbled upon a Nightwish cover of mine on YouTube and decided to contact me. I was just starting out as a metal singer back then and I had never recorded an album, so I initially refused his proposal to join the band, since I didn't know whether I was up to the job. Some years later, in 2021, the previous Silent Angel's singer decided to leave to pursue her solo career, so Eric reached out again. This time I was more experienced with my local metal scene and fully on board, even though the long distance collaboration between us revealed to be fruitful, but challenging. I recorded my parts in Italy, while the rest of the band did theirs in Malaysia. In 2022 I flew to Kuala Lumpur so that we could do some photoshoots, a live show, and shoot some videos. As for the musical influences, I grew up listening to power and heavy metal (Iron Maiden, Helloween, Blind Guardian), but as of now I'm more into symphonic and progressive metal. I studied classical singing and performed in a choir for many years in my youth, and besides my obvious love for Nightwish, Epica and After Forever, that is why I tend to incorporate that style in Silent Angel's songs, where I feel it can add a special touch to their powerful framework.

Gracie Shona, you have a super voice too! Also tell us about yourself! What are your musical influences?

Gracie:

Thanks! Well, where do I begin? Let's dive right in! I came from a very humble family with a deep passion for music. I began singing in a choir at 9 and competed for my school. By the age of 10, I had started to learn to play musical instruments such as percussion, recorder, and melodica, and took part in school competitions. At 11, I recorded 4 cover songs for my native language song with our local radio station (RTM). As for my music influences, I will cite 80s glam rock and 80s heavy metal as my influences.

For both of you, how do you fit together when singing a song, have you ever had problems with that part?

Claudia:

Luckily we didn't have any issues in singing together. Gracie had already collaborated with the former co-lead singer, so she was very open to discussion about everything. I too had some experience in singing with other co-leads in my past bands, so it was just a matter of splitting the parts between us and adding some harmonies. We have different styles that complement each other very well: she boasts a nice grit and some pop vibes, I have an operatic-like side and a rock chest-voice. When we performed live we also discovered a good chemistry between us, even though we had met for the first time just some days before the show.

Gracie:

No, I don't have any issue fitting in with Claudia. She's fantastic! A favorite quote I often use is "Be water, my friend" by Bruce Lee. I enjoy and am used to working with people.

Any funny or unforgettable moments for you at any event when singing?

Claudia:

We had the most fun while filming the music videos for our singles, especially "Against the Tides". If you watch carefully, there is a part when we swapped instruments during the keyboard solo, so everyone was pretending to play something else. It was the most playful moment of all the shooting.

Are you working on any videos for your release?

Eric:

When Claudia came to Malaysia back in 2022, we maximized all the available time while she was there to shoot a few music videos of which 2 have already been released. The third one will be coming out in the next few months. When she returns again for the release party, we will definitely shoot and produce more videos.

What else would you like to share with us, for your fans?

Eric:

A huge and massive Thank you to our Friends and supporters from near and far for believing in us and our music and thank you all so much for continuing to support us. We will strive to deliver our best in the studio and on stage for all of you. It’s your Unyielding Support for us that drives and inspires us to move forward!

Silent Angel band, what do you have prepared for us in 2024?

Eric:

As mentioned earlier, we’re preparing for our major showcase in Kuala Lumpur as well as our upcoming Japan tour. Once the tours are done, we’ll be resuming work to prepare and produce our follow up album.

Anything else you would like to tell us?

Eric:

Well, what can we say that hasn’t been already said? I think we’ve covered as much ground as we can for now. Our story is just only beginning.

Thank you very much for your time for this interview for Darkzen Dragon Metal Angel

Eric:

It’s been a great pleasure for you to have us.

Info

https://www.facebook.com/SilentAngelBand

https://www.instagram.com/silentangelband/

https://www.youtube.com/@silentangelbandofficial

https://silentangelband.bandcamp.com