If you were to ask someone to name a heavy metal band, it is likely you would receive plenty of different answers depending on who you ask. Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Gojira, Suicide Silence, Katatonia, all of these bands are classified into the metal genre, but it varies from person to person how many of these are "true metal." I say that as a disclaimer, because the band I am talking about might not fit someone's definition of metal, but they definitely fit into mine. That band is a band called Silent Planet, and I've been listening to their new album "Everything Was Sound" nonstop since a friend bought it for me at Warped Tour. Throughout this time, I've been able to sit and think about the words expressed through these 13 tracks, and about how they relate to me and the world around me.
Silent Planet is a metal band made up of five guys named Alex Camarena, Garrett Russell, Mitchell Stark, Spencer Keene, and Thomas Freckleton. They have been active since 2009 but really started grasping people's attention when they signed to Solid State Records and released their debut album, "The Night God Slept." The album I am writing about is their follow-up record, "Everything Was Sound." I must say that the music on this album is great, it is some of the best metalcore I have heard in a long time. It's refreshing to have a band like this in the mix from a scene that sometimes sounds so generic. However, as for this article, I will mainly be pointing out what issues the lyrics deal with and about how they are of importance to me and everyone else.
The album contains 13 tracks that deal with various mental health and social issues. "Inherit the Earth" (the human condition in general), Psychescape (schizophrenia), "Dying in Circles" (religion), "Understanding Love As Loss" (depression/suicide), "Tout Comprendre" and "C'est Tout Pardonner" (terrorism and forgiveness), "Panic Room" (PTSD), "Redivider" (bipolar disorder), "Nervosa" (anorexia nervosa), "Orphan" (war), "No Place to Breathe" (fascism), "First Father" (death), and "Inhabit the Wound" (all topics together and the human condition again).
I'm not saying this album is important because I enjoy listening to it, I'm saying it's important because of what is mentioned. Yes, it's great to listen to a song about falling in love or having a great day every now and then, but sometimes we need to hear something that shocks us. Sometimes we need to hear words that make us uncomfortable and that make us think about the world around us. This band does a great job of entertaining while also getting the message across that there is so much that we as humans need to deal with. They encourage the listener to empathize, and more importantly love those who deal with any of these issues. Whether it be a mental health problem of an individual or a social problem that affects all of us, they want us to know about it. Whether we choose to actually love and forgive after listening is up to us.
This band writes and plays to the culture that deals too much with death, war, fascism, and mental health being ignored. They understand that we are all human and that we live in a fallen world. But they don't let that discourage them from trying to shed light on what is important to us as human beings. It is from their resilience that works of art like "Everything Was Sound" are created. This albums important because what it tells us. This album is important because the words in it make you question things. This album is important because it contains what so many other albums lack; a message of love, hope, peace, and forgiveness. Give it a listen.
"We inherit the earth, we inherit the war."
