I've been blown away by this album right from the first listen and I am still now after spin #xx. The line-up of AGE OF SILENCE is almost identical with the one of the band WINDS. Nevertheless the sound is completely different from theirs, they manage here to sound heavy but not rough and at the same time melodic but not soft nor mellow. I wouldn't call it necessarily Avant-Metal what these guys are playing here, actually rather true progressive metal by blending the power of metal with the complexity, harmony and melody of classical music in a really perfect manner. One outstanding musician is keyboarder Andy Winter showing a very professional and elegant playing. Lazare's vocals, known already from SOLEFALD, another great band are absolutely unique, unmistakable and he's been blessed with one of the best clean voices in metal. For the folks being allergic against growling I'd like to emphasize that apart from some very occasional "filthy" vocal parts most of them ARE clean on here. Hellhammer's drumming here is not as gracious as with WINDS but much more powerful and very intricate with many rhythm changes, sometimes even jazzy. This album was a wonderful surprise in progmetal when I found it, it contains by far not the usual stuff available and is completely different from everything in this field I heard so far, whether it's OPETH, ARCTURUS, BORKNAGAR or HAGGARD to name at least one not coming from Scandinavia but from my home country. Extremely complex but at the same time pleasant and nice to listen music suitable both for the advanced metal and prog fan. Highly recommended!