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I bought this a couple of years ago whilst on the hunt for some French Power Metal, and I have to say I was drawn in by the strange name and even stranger artwork. Sadly, I bought it the same day as Manigance's fabulous D'un Autre Sang, so it didn't get much airtime. Thankfully, I went back to it, and as it goes, Edge of Life, Deafening Silence's 2003 debut, isn't half bad.

One word can sum this one up, and that word is Hammerfall. From the first note to the last, this is prime Glory to the Brave worship, with a production that sounds a little like Renegade. The guitar work has Dronjak and Elmgren all over it and vocalist Julien Milbach desperately wants to be Joacim Cans (and he sounds a lot like him, too, despite a thin middle range – but he does have a fine vibrato, sometimes reaching high levels of technique). The songs here are all catchy in their way, and it's a nice album of silly, girly Power Metal for those who like it that way (and I have to say, I do). Those vocals do get annoying at times, but you can overlook this and enjoy the melodies, which cling to the riffs without breaking out.

It's as formulaic as it comes (even the guitar work sounds hesitant, like these guys don't quite believe in what they are playing), but you can't deny songs like mid-paced stomper "Northern Star", which clomps as much as it stomps. Edge of Life is not for those who like their metal as epic and true as possible, but it's an underground indulgence nonetheless.