Going The Distance

"As Silence Breaks has been around for eight years now,” explains Rilatt. “The band was started by high school friends from Western Sydney who just wanted to get together and play some metal. And still to this day that's the basic ethos – we're guys who love playing metal and making music.”

Although As Silence Breaks have been around for a while, the band that has just unleashed the crushing The Architecture Of Truth platter is not the same one that started in obscurity all those years ago. “When the band formed there was a heavy influence from the metalcore scene of the time – Atreyu, As I Lay Dying – bands like that,” Rilatt explains. “As time went on things shifted and the band's musical approach changed with the introduction of deathcore elements. Then in 2009, when I joined the band to replace the original vocalist, we all reassessed what kind of sound we wanted and moved into a more straight-up metal approach. We're all huge fans of bands like Megadeth, Pantera and At The Gates and those influences really define the new record.”

There's no doubting that The Architecture Of Truth is a huge step forward for the Sydney locals from their eponymous debut album and 2010's The Inferno EP. Not only is the playing itself more fluid, the record simply sounds huge. Rilatt credits the shift to the band's decision to record at Lambesis Studios in San Diego, which has played host to bands as diverse as Sworn Enemy, Winds of Plague and As I Lay Dying. “We realised that it would be the same, if not cheaper to go and record in America than to record here in Sydney. So we jumped at the chance to go and work with Tim Lambesis and Daniel Castleman, who have been involved in creating so many amazing records.The experience was wonderful – they knew what we wanted and really pushed us to make the best album we could. The results speak for themselves.”

Although As Silence Breaks have moved away from their roots as a 'metalcore' band there's still an element of that genre in their sound. Considering the term metalcore has now become something of a dirty word – shorthand for bands who rely on endless breakdowns if you will – does it bother them that the band is still described using the term?

“It's an interesting question and we actually talk about this all the time,” laughs Rilatt. “There's not much we can do about it and when it comes down to it different people are always going to label you as this genre or that genre. We still think that breakdowns have their place, but as the new record shows we don't rely heavily on them. When people hear the new material they'll instantly realise that – The Architecture Of Truth is still really hard hitting and aggressive but there's a real sense of melody to the material that makes the songs much more akin to classic metal than your typical 'breakdown' band. Songwriting is really important to us and for this record we concentrated on writing songs that are memorable and will last the distance.”

Like many of his contemporaries Rilatt is aware that while international metal shows are well patronised the local metal scene sometimes struggles to pull consistent crowds. What gives? “Look I think it has to do mainly with two things. First, there's a lack of support from local councils. For example so many all ages venues that young metal bands use to get started have been closed down; and also remaining venues find it hard to do business because of all the regulations that are forced on live music. On top of this there are lots of Aussie metal fans are very supportive of metal at an overall level and will come out for the big international acts but are less aware of the local scene. That said the hardcore metal scene here is really strong and I think with the amount of good local bands out there it will only get stronger in the coming years.”