Silverstein – Antibloom

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2025 is a major year for Silverstein for a litany of reasons. The band is celebrating 25 years of existence, they are currently on a comprehensive tour in support of this band anniversary, and they are planning to release not one, but two LPs this year. First on the docket is the brief, but extremely hard-hitting album called Antibloom. Silverstein recorded both parts of their ambitious two-part album in the deserts of Joshua Tree, CA, and it appeared to have a big impact on the five musicians. Shane Told shared, “Antibloom is a reference to the desert, the empty vastness, the harshness, something we experienced while making the record. This is not a concept record, the concept was making a record in this space, and while the lyrics/songs are not directly connected in any shape or form, the concept of death or mortality does appear a lot”. While some fans may be turned off by the short run time of Antibloom, it’s hard to not admit that this record features eight great songs that play off of each other brilliantly and accelerate the artistic development of Silverstein.

The record opens with the sound of a phone left on vibrate before the dual-guitar attack of Paul Marc Rousseau and Josh Bradford sets the tone of “Mercy Mercy.” Told opens with, “Watch me bleed / Get your money’s worth / It’s only good if you know it hurts / Come clean / You’re a sadist you love it / Zoom in on the blood running,” as he paints a picture of a tortured soul struggling with the concept of mortality. Much like many Silverstein songs, the song bleeds into a crowd-pleasing chorus to prevent the track from getting too dark. The tail end of the song features some near-industrial elements to the mix brought forth as a voice message plays above some abrasive sounds present themselves before ending some great power chords.

The great single of “Don’t Let Me Get Too Low” follows in the sequencing and features an incredibly melodic chorus of, “Don’t let me get too low / You know me well / Sometimes when I’m alone / It gets so damn hard to tell / What I want from what I need / I spiral slowly down / Until you pull me out / Of the grave I dug myself.” The concept of death and mortality is prevalent early on and plays a major part in the narrative of Antibloom. “Confession” begins with a stellar, pulsating bass line from Billy Hamilton as the band rallies around this great riff with some programmed synths in the pre-chorus before Shane Told cuts through the darkness with a shimmering chorus. The bridge features some soft-sung bars of the pre-chorus lyrics that are barely recognizable in the mix before reinforcing the power of the hook found here.

My personal favorite in the set also happens to be the shortest song in the set, “A Little Fight.” There’s something utterly charming about this song that has a cool, dancey vibe much like an 80’s synth pop song, and the track doesn’t even have a chorus in it. The lyrics lament over a disagreement in a relationship, while the rest of the song tells a unique story over just how quickly things can change in the blink of an eye.

”Skin & Bones” opens up the Side B of the record and is a punishing reminder of the fragility of our lives as Told sings, “Life is gonna leave you quicker than you know / Slip right through your hands when you think you’ve got the rope / I’ve seen it / (We’re all, we’re all) / We’re all just skin / We’re all just skin and bones.” It’s a brutal song that features some spoken words in the bridge that act as a bit of a guide to the listener that things can get better if you hang in there long enough. “I Will Destroy This” follows down a similar path as this previous track and features a steady beat in the opening verse to invite audience participation. The cool programmed elements of the song round out the approach that Silverstein were going for on this ambitious first part of their two-album project.

The abrasive guitar sound on “Stress” provides the perfect musical landscape for Told to scream against and the drumming from Paul Koehler is a steady hand as he doesn’t want to distract from the power behind the guitars and screams from his lead vocalist. Koehler does add in some intricate elements in the quieter parts of the song before the bridge to keep as a reminder of the value he brings to this ultra-talented band. The final chorus of, “Just give me that / Stressed-out music / Yeah, yeah, shut my brain off / Stressed-out music,” is perfect for the head-banging crowds and should make for a memorable part of the set in Silverstein’s live shows.

And no Silverstein record would be truly complete without an epic closing ballad, and Antibloom has just the right recipe for this in “Cherry Coke.” The smooth-sounding track opens with vulnerable lyrics of, “4 AM wishing I was dead / It’s something I do when I forget / How I got here why and when did I want this / Lost a long line of symmetry / That kept me safe and in between / Dull and full emergency / Now I’m tearing at the seams,” that puts the headspace of Shane Told directly in the crosshairs. The song builds to a very memorable chorus and the power ballad tugs on all the right heartstrings as the band quickly reminds their fans that they have plenty left in the creative tank.

Antibloom is a reflection of the world around the band, the experiences that they have encountered, and in turn their reaction to these events. With a total running time of just over 22 minutes, it’s a record you will likely reach for more often than not to fill a void that you may be feeling in your own life. Pink Moon will be coming out at some point during 2025 and complete the second part of this two-record cycle. If Antibloom is any indication of the direction that Silverstein took with the rest of the material, we’re all certainly in for a treat and a hell of a year for this band.

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