Along with the new ION DISSONANCE (who are also signed to Abacus now) the new SWARM OF THE LOTUS was my most highly anticipated Metalcore disc of the year. After last year’s devastating “When White Becomes Black” the SWARM had a lot to live up to, but I knew if anyone could do it, it would be them.

Surprisingly, “The Sirens Of Silence” isn’t as in your face as “When White Becomes Black” was, instead the band takes a slight step back, creating much moodier, though still aggressive music, with a slight bow of the head towards NEUROSIS on the first couple of tracks. “The Great Masquerade” and “Yan Hou”, however, are a return to what I know and love and about SOTL. Subsequent tracks are a good meld of the moodier side of SOTL and their more aggressive side, resulting in an unexpected, but still engaging listening experience.

Something didn’t hit me as immediately as I thought it would on this record, however, but I could feel it lurking somewhere beneath the surface and with repeated spins it rose up and bludgeoned me. Some of the aforementioned tracks were enthralling enough in and of themselves to keep me coming back and with time it all just fell into place. (Online August 23, 2005)