Band:	Before Silence
Album:	The Ultimate Nothing
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	2006

01. Salvation
02. The Screaming Wolf
03. Akinesia
04. Bless
05. Destroying Enemies
06. Secret Destination
07. A Quest For Purity

The first contact I had with the music of the Belgian band Before Silence was through the samples available at their website, after they asked for a review. My feeling then was that the band had some solid compositions although I thought they were nothing really special, distinctive, compared to other heavy/power bands, with the exception of the vocals: Very monotonous; I didn't know if this was on purpose or if it was due to the singer's vocal limitation.

When I finally played the album The Ulitmate Nothing for the first time, I had to change my mind: The seven songs on this CD are really efficient, very well (self) produced and above all, the monotonous, despairing but strong voice of JC Marchal contributes a lot to the atmosphere of the album. In addition, I must say you shouldn't have problems singing along most of the lyrics: They're not amazing but the diction is addictive, at least to me.
Musically, the band plays a mixed genre with touches of power, heavy, progressive metal with great musicianship, and all the instruments can be heard - I mean, not only cause of the good production but because the compositions allow all the members to express themselves. However, it's not that original and sometimes you may have the feeling you've heard it before (especially since the keyboard sounds a lot like Stratovarius/Symphony X).
The overall atmosphere is a bit dark, not that much, but let's say it's like feeling empty, drained, just as the title of the album suggests, but don't take it wrong: The Ultimate Nothing is far from being empty... Even though some people might think seven songs aren't enough for an album. I sure would have appreciate one more track, possibly an instrumental or some kind of intro/outro to add to the atmosphere, but the essential is here.

The Ulitmate Nothing is definitely a great surprise, a very mature album with very few and minor flaws. You may not fully like everything, as I did at first, so that's why I encourage you to listen to this first album from Before Silence as it will probably grow on you to the point that, like me, you will congratulate them and wait for their next release!