EP REVIEW: Silverline – Anberlin

After 20 years, seven full-length records and a couple of EPs to fill the spaces, ANBERLIN are celebrating their double-decade anniversary with a brand new selection. Enter Silverline.

The Floridian rockers are celebrating their 20th year together with five brand new songs; their newest offering since the 2014 album Lowborn. The EP opens with Two Graves, the band’s latest single, bringing that sharp alternative edge from the very start. A perfect introduction to the EP and reintroduction to ANBERLIN, this just shows that the guys can still command the chords as they once did years ago and beyond. It’s a trick one may never lose, and it looks like the practice has made perfect.

Silverline turns back time. Reminiscent of their last audible helping from eight years ago, the gap from release to release is no more than a crack in the pavement. It’s barely noticeable and easy to forget about. The throwback is thriving, the reliving is relieving, and the echoes ripple through the ears and minds of all those who are listening. Body Language is one track that contains that trace of familiarity – a dash of déjà vu even. It’s something for the souls who missed ANBERLIN, and for the hearts who never knew of such an experience.

The emotions run high and the notes pierce deep as the EP concludes with Circles. As it kicks into gear past its intro, it doesn’t feel like a closing track. It feels nowhere near the end, and maybe that’s how it needs to be. Silverline is a stellar testament to ANBERLIN; it serves not just as a playing plaque rewarding their longevity, but as living proof that finding one’s signature sound is possible and not limiting. They know who they are and they know what they want. They’ve learnt how to get it. Now to keep up the good behaviour.

If there is a record which contains the joys of déjà vu, the fresh breath of experimentation, and the pride and power of a band knowing their worth, then it’s in the five-chapter-long Silverline.

Rating: 8/10

Silverline is out now via Rude Records/Equal Vision Records.

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