Rough Silk: The Greatest Band You've Never Heard Of Before, Part II

“So you were born where the black cats stray,

Back on your feet - that's the price you got to pay,

For daylight dreams in the midnight hour…

Intelligence is power!

To find a rose way down below,

Scared to death where egos grow;

Whenever a wish cuts like a knife,

Then life goes on,

On and on - tomorrow I'll be gone,

But life goes on”
From “Life Goes On,” from the album Circle of Pain, 1996

I have not shied away from stating that Savatage is just about my favorite band over the last year or so. Now, I have discovered one that could be called a carbon of Savatage, and I do not mean Trans-Siberian orchestra. Rough Silk is the next of my groups you have probably never heard of before series. Rough Silk combines classical, symphonic elements with straight ahead hard rock/metal. They are very piano friendly, notice not keyboard, but piano friendly.
They sing about life and the components therein, and their Circle of Life CD is perhaps the best of the lot.

Their music has an ebb and flow that will cause anyone to feel the pulse of the bass mixed with the sophistication of the guitars, the pound of the drums, and always the piano and keyboards accentuating the lot. Their vocalists are clear and sharp, but lead vocalist Jan Barnett has a deliberately fragile quality to his range. Just when you think he might lose the control of the voice; bang, he delivers with a passion and power. When Jan left, Thomas Ludolphy took over. After he departed, keyboardist Ferdy Doernberg assumed command.

This band is one of the finest German Power Metal bands there is. Aside from the fore-mentioned Circle of Pain album, I really enjoyed Mephisto, despite its bizarre cover. I also grew to enjoy Beyond The Sundown, as it arguably has the best cover. The band at times can have the vocal arrangements of Meatloaf and at times, they remind me of George Harrison in the choruses, and no, I am not kidding. There are comparisons to be made with Queen as well, especially on the Symphony of Life album, even more especially on the song “Under the Guillotine” Still in the background, there is a not-so hidden homage to Savatage, so much so, that Jon Olivia is a guest on the Symphony of Life album.

Their albums are not the easiest to find, but seek them out. They are power metal at its best.

The Rough Silk official website: http://www.rough-silk.com/index.php

Butterfly Temple: Folk Trends That Are Worthy of a Listen

I am selling some of my CD’s on eBay to help defer the cost of the wedding I am expecting to pay and to clear out some room. In my selling fury, I tend to take a few minutes and relisten to key tracks on CD’s to decide if I really wish to part with them. Now, why the big build-up? It is because of the above that I rediscovered my enjoyment and love of Butterfly Temple.

I like the vocals and frankly the Russian language mixes well with the music. There is a sophisticated use of synths and keyboards against a pound of the drums and thunder of the bass.

Depending on the album, the harsh vocals are underplayed by the folkish sounds of traditional Russian tunes. The best example of the Pagan/Folk metal roots is the Veles album. I found it to be the most accessible of all of their works. I love the female vocals that temper the momentum of the band and add some purpose to the controlled chaos. The Russians can rock. The electric guitars are a bit more subtle in this band and give way to the atmospheric tendencies of the band in creating a tone, and a breadth to the music that flashy guitar solos are more of a disruption. That is not saying guitars are not a major instrument, it’s just that they add to the overall image/goal of the band.


Folk metal is often lumped together with Viking/Norse/Goth/Pagan metal. I often think these mixtures are fair in such bands like FinnTroll, Tyr, and Falkenbach; in Butterfly Temple, they really have no place. Butterfly Temple often uses a harsh death metal-esque voice, but the tunes are quite reminiscent of Eastern European/former Soviet Bloc countries folk tradtions. I have often tried to find translations of the songs, and the band’s musical themes include: Pathways, Halls of Stillness, Hounds, Wolves, and hymns. There is a dark sounding undercurrent of some of this music and there is a part of me that wishes to be more involved lyrically, but I think that would distract me to a degree from enjoying the overall quality of the music. There is something to just listening and not really trying to read the themes. As such, I take the band for what they are musically without any judgements to anything other than the sounds of the music.



I own six of this fine bands releases: On The BloodRed Path..By The Will Of Rod, the Times Of Mara, Veles, Dreams of the Northern Sea, Wheel of Chernobog, and the most recent Za Solntsem Vsled, the latter being available through Amazon and iTunes. Kind of a shame the others are not, as I obtained my from eBay and they occasionally show up there from the IROND label. I encourage folks to check out this band who uses some non-traditional instruments such as bells, Folk female voice—kind of like an instrument the way Butterfly Temple uses it, lofty keyboards, fiddles, whistles, accordions, acoustic guitars, orchestration, against the background of traditional metal sounds of heavy drums, guitars, harsh vocals, and an unrelenting bass. I think the bass is what really drew me back to this band.


In my usual last word: Although I am not sure, but I have a feeling that lyrically, what they are saying is quite fascinating.


They are classified by the Russians as "Pagan Death Metal," which may scare a few folks away. I have found them to be quite soothing at times and honestly would consider them Traditional Folk metal, granted Traditional Folk Metal with a growl. Check out Butterfly Temple on their IROND Label: http://www.irond.ru/indexf.html