Chances are this has landed with you right out of nowhere. (That’s literally true, too; name another musical export from the Isle of Man that isn’t The Bee Gees.) Before this, Silo had no other releases; this is their proper, full-blown debut. They’ve also had no humongous viral push or (as far as some research with throw up) any advantageous industry connections. So, what gives? Is this an actually good band moving upwards by being actually good?
Well, they sound a bit like Split Chain, so you could chalk some of it up to that. Only some, though. The whole ‘nu-gaze’ thing in its current form is still in its infancy as it is, so it’d make more sense to see Silo as diversifiers rather than coattail-riders. And on Haze, diversify, they certainly do. Silo wind up being a significantly different proposition, rooted deeper in melodic hardcore or even metalcore before the grunge and shoegaze wash over them. It really works, too, as the kind of sonic marriage that you’d peg as a years-honed craft, not its creators’ literal first go around the block.
It makes most sense to address the complaints first, as few as they are. The vocals on Crawl In A Bottle start off trying too hard to fall into shoegaze lucidity, though that’s remedied after the first verse. There are also some patches of production that could land better, namely drums that can flatten out in places (it pokes out most on Jaw Wire sometimes), and a slower lead-out on Lucid that wants to seem more punishing than it is. Otherwise, there’s precious little else to quibble about. Silo are remarkably accomplished across the board, as they lay down their creative thesis on the short opener Static Screen—melodic hardcore that effortlessly slides between both melody and hardness—and explore it as much as they can.
The spectrum is borderline seamless, and frontman Kriss Maguire plays a significant role in making it so. He joins the still-small cadre of vocalists who can convincingly erode the boundary between singing and screaming while still feeling natural. Spin and Bai Lan especially do an excellent job at showing it off—enough gravel and guttural force in the cleans to where something even rawer is just a brisk sidestep away. Even Low Sun, a song that’s entirely clean-sung, plays enough with sonorous grunge and downturned guitars to hold that vibe firmly. It’s honestly pretty stellar in how it comes together. At not one point do Silo seem out of step or like a cobbled-together version of what they’re aiming for. This is what they’re aiming for.
There’s a volatility crackling below the surface that keeps Haze’s excitement levels constantly on the go. Bai Lan and Imposter show there’s a quicker, punk-style hustle in full reach to draw upon. At a completely different angle but meeting the same endgame, Ill Intent and What’s Left Of Me are anchored in grinding, splintered riffs that’d almost be full nu-metal if they weren’t as tensed as they are. Silo excel at capturing the strain in their sound without leaving themselves threadbare as a result. There’s a depth to the production that gets them there, really just helping them thrive across the board. Even in the moments where they do indulge in some more apparent Split Chainery—those being Crawl In A Bottle and Split My Mind—a heaving production job carries Silo well over the line of mere aping.
It’s all massively impressive, and far beyond the expected parameters of a band in their fledgling years. Haze is facilitating a rise based on strike impact alone, a feat that’s borderline unheard of these days but, for Silo, fully deserved. They’ve still got a ways to go before their top-table seat is ready, but that’s in road miles at this point, not sonics. Musically, they’re basically there—heavy; melodic; appreciative of a bevy of sounds that all fit together without a peep of fuss made; that’s frankly incredible for a debut. With some big appearances pencilled in for festival season, expect the Manx musical lineage to get that bit more illustrious before long.
For fans of: Split Chain, Boston Manor, Love is noise
‘Haze’ by Silo is released on 1st May on Easy Life Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall
