martindavey87 Released in 2004, Platitude’s ‘Nine’ is the follow-up to their debut album, ‘Secrets of Life’, which was released just a year prior, and it’s evident in such a short time how much this band has matured and polished their sound.

Part progressive metal, part power metal, somewhat labelled as “melodic metal”, Platitude have that very distinctive European metal style down to a tee. Their songs are pretty easy to get into, with high-energy guitar riffs and beautifully melodic keyboards, this is essentially prog metal which doesn’t require a dozen listens to pick up. Vocalist Erik Blomkvist has an incredible voice, able to hit the high notes while keeping warmth in his tone when not wailing away, his is a voice I could easily listen to all day.

One major difference between this album and its predecessor is that while ‘Secrets of Life’ had a very neoclassical edge to it, with a huge emphasis on shredding and virtuoso guitar playing, ‘Nine’ has taken a step back and stripped down the number of acrobatics. This favours guitarist Gustav Kollerstrom heavily, as his style is more riff-oriented, and while he isn’t known by any means for being a guitar guru, his performance and songwriting is impeccable and consistently interesting, and the very few times he does truly let rip stand out even more because of it.

Some of the highlights from this album include ‘Skies of Xenon’, ‘Dark Mind’, ‘Trust’, ‘Halcyon Days’, ‘Oblivion’ and ‘Catch 22’. But pretty much every song on this release is of a high standard, making ‘Nine’ by Platitude an incredibly underrated hidden gem, by a band which sadly mostly stayed under the radar of fans of this genre. If you’re into melodic metal, then this, or its successor, ‘Silence Speaks’ are definitely worth checking out.

martindavey87 Well, here's a pleasant little gem from a band that approximately nobody has heard of. 'Silence Speaks' by Platitude is proof that if you dig around in the right places, you will eventually strike gold. Sadly, this band split up shortly after the release of this album, which is a huge shame as with this, their third record, they stripped away a lot of the neo-classical elements of their previous records and went with a more simpler, "melodic metal" vibe. And it sounds great!

This is progressive/power metal, without all the musical virtuosity, and it shows that sometimes taking elements from progressive metal, but focusing on the song-writing as much as the "showing off" can really benefit the music.

Now with only one guitarist in the band, Gustav Kollerstroms stripped down riffs compliment Kristofer Wachenfeldts keyboard melodies perfectly, leaving as much emphasis on both instruments to really play off of each other. And with Erik "EZ" Blomkvists warm, and very easy-to-listen-to vocals, this album is an absolute joy from start to finish. Highlights from this album include 'Tell the Truth', 'Silence Speaks', 'Fear (It's Over Now)' and 'Walk With Me'; each song sadly lost in today's vast musical landscape.

Whilst this isn't a record that was set to kick off a new musical revolution, it certainly is a nice little addition to any prog or power metal fans collection, and it's a shame with the new direction they were headed in, that Platitude never really got any recognition and disbanded unheard of. 'Silence Speaks' is the true definition of a "hidden gem".

martindavey87 'Secrets of Life' is the debut album by the relatively unknown Platitude, and can best be described as a "generic power metal album". I don't mean this in a bad way, but there's really not much that can be said about it. It's a solid record, with some great compositions and polished production, and perfectly blends elements from power, progressive and speed metal. There's also some strong neo-classical vibes to some of the songs, which always adds some nice flavour. But overall, there's just nothing groundbreaking or amazing that sets them apart from similar bands.

With two guitarists and a keyboard player in the band, there is plenty of intense melodies and solos, with all three players working together perfectly and with great chemistry to come up with some exciting and complex songs, and Erik "EZ" Blomkvist's vocals fit perfectly with this genre of music.

It may be a "generic" album, but songs such as 'Deception', 'Just One Try', 'Evil Sky' and the title track, make this a worthy addition to a metal fans collection.