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Tears of Silence is the fourth album from Dutch Gothic Metal band Imperia and I'm happy to say it is a step up from their last effort, 2011's Secret Passion. It sounds like the band spent the intervening years sharpening their songwriting skills and honing the material for this album as it is full of majestic melodies giving vocalist Helena Iren Michaelsen a great platform from which to deliver her powerful voice. The vocal lines mesh well with the song structures and give tracks like "Friheten vil seire" a satisfying smoothness. Like many releases in this genre the need to get the atmosphere "right" is given higher priority over catchiness and there aren't as many memorable moments on Tears of Silence as there could have been. This relegates the album to the "good, not great" category but that in no way diminishes the performances. This is a worthy addition to the collection for die-hard Gothic fans but more casual listeners will probably find it hit or miss. Nevertheless, I like the direction Imperia took here and hope they can build on in for their next album.