Official Silver Cypher Website
Rating: 9/10

Tracklisting:
1. Unfallen
2. Conflict in Tristram
3. Never More
4. The Fall of Man
5. Rise of the Machines
6. Broken Carriers
7. Ideology
8. Naïve Youth
9. Pain
10. 1d3r

Buy This Album!

Mysteriously unsigned Ohio quartet Silver Cypher have it all. They’re fantastic musicians, but more importantly, they know how to write a song. Not only are the melodies triumphantly memorable and adorned with singalong-ready harmonies, but the songs alternate in tempo and feel while staying cohesive, a varied sound that without question pays its respects to old school metal of the Maiden variety. Themes develop and progress but recur when the structure craves unity, and the way the band utilizes these trademarks without it becoming formulaic shows a maturity of songwriting which dwarfs minor leaguers everywhere.

A shining example of this is my favorite track on the album, the 10+ minute “Conflict in Tristram”. Note the dynamics, as this certifiably epic track gradually explodes into a frenzy of triplet-happy power thrash (complete with brief blast beats!), soaring vocals and absolutely RIPPING guitar work only helping matters. An effortless segue about halfway through to mellower territory leads into tasteful soloing that helps build up once again to a climactic, moody finish. Not since Metal Church’s ”Anthem to the Estranged” have I heard such a convincing straight-up heavy metal epic, Manilla Road notwithstanding.

Luckily, Silver Cypher are still unafraid to go for the jugular with shorter bruisers like opener ”Unfallen” and Priest-friendly ”Naïve Youth”, tempering their sense of the grandiose with tried-and-true, modern-day metal riffing. Just listen to the galloping war cry of ”Broken Carriers” and try to tell me it wasn’t meant to be played to throngs of screaming metalheads. It’s the sound of Megadeth-level musicianship coalescing with a sense of the bombastic, not in glossy production (although everything here sounds so crisp, you’d think it was a big budget affair) but in adventurous songwriting that pulls in the reigns before things can get cheesy.

For fans of a more modernized approach to classic metal a la Iced Earth (crank up ”Rise of the Machines” and reminisce to when Jon Schaffer used to write riffs like that), Yesterday's Tomorrow is a sure bet. Silver Cypher have presented the unsuspecting public with a refreshing slab of dark power metal that has helped restore my faith in a long-stagnant genre. With nods to metal’s established greats, Silver Cypher are kicking ahead into the future with a forward-thinking metallic attack, brimming with the visceral grit so often lacking in the hordes of today’s Nuclear Blast Euro bands. Silver Cypher remind the listener of all that’s great about no-frills, fist-pumping heavy goddamn metal.

-Will Schwartz