Silverstein
Rescue

A few months after the EP "Transitions," which had dampened expectations, "Rescue," the fifth studio album and the first under the Hopeless Records label, is released.

As could already be sensed from the EP, this new music chapter by the five Canadians doesn't bring major innovations to the table, yet it is a burst of adrenaline that manages to surprise despite varying little from the past.

Silverstein is especially known for "Discovering The Waterfront," their best album, probably still unsurpassed, followed by a lackluster and quite commercial "Arrivals & Departures" and a good album like "A Shipwreck In The Sand" that brought them back to a high level.

However, while that album had learned from past mistakes and was enjoyable, it failed to recreate those atmospheres and that sound which made the second album magical; something was still missing. That surplus, however, is found in "Rescue," the true successor to "Discovering The Waterfront" in every way.

We were saying that formally not much has changed, but it's in the substance that you can see how the Canadian ensemble has done everything to perfection this time, working with care in a sort of artisanal and manufacturing manner (also thanks to the label?) on a hot topic like emo post-hardcore.

Just press play and let your head and heart be carried away by the initial tracks "Medication" (which immediately showcases a good aggression with its raw refrains) - "Sacrifice" - "Forget Your Heart" (which stands out for excellent and captivating melodic lines and a nice breakdown) and "Intervention" to understand the improvements and refinements both at the production level, this time less glossy than before, with less pompous sounds where I believe the label change helped, and at a song level, with one song better than the other; there's no shortage of choices for potential greatest hits in the future.

Sure, "A Shipwreck In The Sand" also had great tracks individually, but on the other hand, it had some rather banal ones that eventually bored. Here, instead, we have a compact and well-rounded tracklist without any drop in tension.

Appreciable too is a slight heaviness in sound evident in songs like "Intervention" (the main riffs and structure here recall something from As I Lay Dying) and "The Artist," suspended between furious hardcore rhythms (actually present more than in the past throughout the whole album) and slowdowns that approach metalcore among the hardest-oriented compositions they've ever made, with notable string-breaking breakdowns and heartfelt screaming, with Shane Told always being the protagonist of the scene and even improved, deftly alternating between a clean and simple voice juxtaposed with intense and furious shouted parts.

There’s less space than in the past for catchy little tunes, the only concession could be the more melodic "Replace You," a sort of My Heroine pt.2.

Good work by the two guitarists is evident from the more extended lines in "Good Luck With Your Lives," where a somewhat gloomy and anticipatory atmosphere is created, and in the final "In Memory Of...," though it's a pity the guitar ornamentations are interrupted too soon in the latter.

An album that's varied and also tinged with melodic punk, with a fun song in line with this season of sea and sun like "Darling Harbour" (retrieved from the previous EP along with "Sacrifice") and "Burning Hearts" that screams full-throated West-Coast melodic hardcore.

Finally, note two collaborations: Brendan Murphy of Counterparts on "The Artist" and Anthony Raneri of Bayside on "Texas Mickey."

A pleasant surprise even for myself and for all those who have long awaited the true successor to DTW. The wind is in their favor.