Age of Silence "Acceleration" CD

Norwegian Avant-garde Progressive melodic Metal with Hellhammer of Mayhem on the drums with members of Tulus, Winds, Khold, Funeral, Borknagar, Carpathian Forest, Solefald, Madder Mortem...

Before purchasing this album, I had heard the song Acceleration from a free download. I was blown away at the mix of amazing keyboard work and awesome guitar riffs. It prompted me to buy the album just a week later, and I do not regret it one bit.
The production is top notch. Everything can be heard clearly and fine. Every key pushed down and every string played can be heard perfectly.
The guitar work is great. It varies from fast, thrashy to slow, melodic riffs. (All in one song, too.) Hellhammer's drumming isn't the fast, brutal drumming we're used to. He drums slow in this release, something I didn't know he was capable of doing. He does a damn good job of it too, fitting with the guitar riffs perfectly. The bass is there, but is seldom really heard.
The two main highlights of this CD are the vocals and keyboards. I hadn't heard Lars Nedland's vocal work before, but boy was I impressed. The man can fucking sing and he can do it well. His voice is soothing and relaxing, staying at the same tone for most of the CD. Definitely one of the best clean vocalists I've heard.
Andy Winter is a god at playing the keyboards. Every song brings a different feeling to it with his keyboarding. When it's mixed with the guitars, it's simply amazing. He seems to build up on so many different genres of playing. He seems to play jazz-style a lot on this release, even mixing in some hip-hop like beats. The combo of vocals, awesome guitar riffs, and his keyboarding creates an extravagant mood and sound. It brings the listener into an almost trance like state.
This CD is for everyone; the black metal grave-robbers, the death metal intestine-eaters, or thrash metallers stuck in 1986. Highly fucking recommended.

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...