Formed as a collaboration between musicians in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands, Silver Knife emerged in 2020 as a group with a dense and fully realized sound that pulled from both the harsh and melodic side of the black metal spectrum. Unyielding / Unseeing resembled some of the other atmospheric black metal from the members’ home countries, but made meaningful tweaks in order to forge its own sound. There were some incredible peaks that drew me back regularly over the following years, and while 2022’s Ring EP didn’t quite have the same immediacy it was still high quality and made some additional changes to the formula. Fast forward to 2025 and Silver Knife has returned with another full-length, this time self-titled. Once again bringing shards of light that pierce through a dense, dark sound, the band has honed their material to an even more captivating and intense experience.
Upon pressing play listeners are greeted with an immediate wall of sound, where thick bass lines and hazier guitars fuse together to create a cold and dense tone that washes over you from the first few seconds. Like the debut, Silver Knife does an incredible job at starting off full blast and reaching even higher peaks from there, giving time for natural pauses to emerge. “Sliver” spends its first half exploring twisting and turning guitar works while also letting its rhythms explore some looser and more fluid elements, but as it reaches its climax the band doubles down on the jagged edges and lets the intensity rise. The approach is very similar to their previous two releases, but there’s an even greater balance between the darkness and light that helps Silver Knife’s sound to be captivating from beginning to end. A lot of atmospherically skewed black metal comes off as long-winded or is too methodical in its build-ups, but this material has a sense of urgency and keeps its ideas moving so that the tension never lets up. There’s a good deal of variety too, as “Restless Blight” has bright, shimmering textures alongside some haunting melodies while “Techne” leans a bit more into more traditional black metal with a much darker and desolate approach. Songs like “Triumph in Tragedy” showcase more of the natural breaks in the density, allowing airier and cold melodies to shine over sparser instrumentation before launching back into a whirlwind of riffs and blasting drums to finish things off. The way the recording wallops you with its density but still gives enough space for the details works well, and the moments of beauty in between the harsher, jagged ones go a long way in making this album one you’ll want to return to.
There may be a lot of bright spots to the instrumentation, but the vocals keep things rooted in the abrasive end of the spectrum. As someone that’s listened to a lot of the bands Déhà has been involved in, his raspy screams and shrieks are familiar but it does sound like other members come in at certain points to shake things up. I know Nicky from Laster is also a core part of Silver Knife and there are some ear-piercing verses that sound like things have shifted over to him, but regardless of who’s screaming their head off behind the mic the back and forth keeps the intensity consistent throughout the album. You do get some other styles over the course of the album, as “Techne” has some brief spoken word and there is some singing/chanting towards the end of “Reticent Paroxysm”. The way the album was mixed does make the vocals sometimes fuse together with the instrumentals, but I prefer it that way for a band like this where the two work in tandem to overwhelm the listener.
Over three releases Silver Knife has yet to disappoint, and their self-titled continues to offer some bright spots amongst a maelstrom of dense, desolate riffs and vocals. Compared to some of their peers the more deliberate pacing and intense peaks give them an edge, and there are specific sections that have stuck with me ever since the first time through. It’s exciting to see the group maintain this type of momentum when its members are involved in a slew of other projects, and this is another must listen for those that like this type of dense, swirling black metal. Silver Knife is available from Amor Fati Productions and Extraconscious Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg