The Letter Black, formerly known as Breaking The Silence, is fronted by female vocalist Sarah Anthony, followed by her husband Mark Anthony (guitar/background vocals), Matt Beal (bass), Mat Slagle (drummer), and Perry Johnson (guitar). Legendary producer Toby Wright(Alice In Chains, Korn, 3 Doors Down) worked with the band in Seattle on their label debut EP, Breaking The Silence. Describing the band’s songs, Mark Anthony shares, “Our songs are not always happy, but rather about real life situations. All of us go through different chapters in our lives, and in these chapters we write letters of good and bad times. Some letters in our chapters, we are happy to share. Others, we are not so proud to reveal. The Letter Black reminds us of the past mistakes we have made and helps us remember to not keep making the same mistakes.”
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Some Great Hark Rock!| Posted September 26, 2009
The Letter Black is one of the newest to the Tooth and Nail roster, and one of the bands opening for Skillet on their tour, The Awake and Alive Tour, this fall.
If this 6-song EP is any indication of what is to come with their full length release, we're in for a real treat.
Obviously, comparisons to other female-fronted rock bands like Flyleaf and Fireflight are inevitable. However, I feel the comparisons baseless as there are plenty of male lead singers, why not more than a few female lead singers?
The best songs on the EP are arguably the ones that most people who have heard of the band know of, "Hanging On By a Thread" and "Best of Me."
The latter is the only slower song all the way through and is a song that is so catchy that it's easy to see it succeeding on the radio. It may seem out of place being the only slow song in a hard rock album, but it's good enough to make itself worth a place on the EP.
The former is not the version heard on various websites in recent months, but a newer re-recorded version. The guest vocals from Trevor McNevan of TFK are replaced with the band's official backup singer Mark Anthony, who is also the husband of the lead singer, Sarah Anthony. The vocals on this version, IMO, are slightly less enjoyable than on the Demo version, but I enjoyed them music on the new version much more. Either way, it's a great rock song.
Opening track, "Moving On," while likely not the greatest of openers, is still a hard hitting and enjoyable rock song.
"Away From Me" is the only song on the album to feature a scream, and even it has only 1 and it isn't too bad. The song itself is a heavy hitter and one of the harder songs of this EP.
"Collapse" and "Perfect" have been said to be marred by the lead singer overextending her vocal capabilities, and while I agree to a point, I don't feel the songs are ruined. Quite the contrary, "Perfect" is one of the album's best songs, sporting an intense and catchy chorus, and definitely sending the album with a bang.
The lyrical content is not particularly original(boasting themes of forgiveness(Moving On)and the need for Christ(Hanging On By A Thread, Collapse). But it is a clean alternative to the garbage dominating a majority of the secular mainstream.
Ultimately, this EP is worth the 4-5 bucks it cost. All 6 songs are great and while it probably won't be the kind of stellar debut that will launch The Letter Black to the tops of radio charts, it is a great start to a band who will hopefully improve even more and be around for a long time.
Nice, but ordinary| Posted November 06, 2009
Known as Breaking The Silence, The Letter Black or a Flyleaf/Fireflight re-make, one Tooth and Nail’s newest artists have now provided fans with their first project, Breaking The Silence EP. The band is actually The Letter Black while their EP is named after the groups first band name. However the Flyleaf/Fireflight re-make comparison was also correct as the young group relies heavily on the sound already trail blazed by artists like Plumb and Evanesce and more recently capitalized by the two aforementioned bands.
However, The Letter Black does offer fans of chick-fronted rock a mostly pleasant journey with the great melody in “The Best Of Me” while providing some cutting-edge rock music with tracks like “Hanging By A Thread” and “Moving On” where lead-vocalist Sarah Anthony’s voice shines. But, her voice doesn’t always provide a gain. In fact, on “Collapse” and particularly “Perfect” her vocals overextend their bounds and hurt the songs riff-driven tracks. Throw in the average, personal lyrics into the non-original genre and you have a run-of-the-mill EP which doesn’t offer much hope for the future. Since it’s no secret that Tooth and Nail can turn mediocre artists into stars, The Letter Black will have every opportunity to show that Breaking The Silence EP is not their musical potential.
The Letter Black is definitely Breaking The Silence| Posted September 16, 2009
At first glance, The Letter Black, may look like a carbon copy of female-fronted bands such as Evanescence, Flyleaf, or Fireflight but The Letter Black brings a new "it" factor that can't be described. Their first single "Hanging On By A Thread" shows how mature they are in their sound. From the crunchy guitar riffs, to the harmonizing male-female vocals, "Hanging On By A Thread" will be a major hit in Christian and Mainstream radio. The rest of the EP is comprised of Hard Rock songs that compliment "Hanging On By A Thread". "Best Of Me" is a different type of song you wouldn't expect from The Letter Black but follows an almost Skillet-esque style of strings intro. In my opinion, "Best Of Me" is the best song on the EP. It's a cry out to God that He gives everything to us, even though we're not perfect, that's why we need to give the Best of ourselves unto Him. you can definitely expect The Letter Black to stay in the Music Business for a long time.
The Silence Is Broken!| Posted September 30, 2009
The Letter Black has certainly "Broken the Silence!" The first single, "Moving On" might seem rather heartless at first listen, but once you think about it, the meaning jumps at you. It talks about how "I don't care about you", but the "you" can be seen as an ex, or as our sinful nature.
The first single, "Hanging On By A Thread" is a hard hitting single that screams that everything isn't alright, and that someone must come and save me. It's an earnest plea out to God to come save.
"The Best of Me" is about how “I’ll you the best of me” and how we shouldn’t hold back from serving God. A great, uplifting song! Two thumbs up!
“Collapse” tells how even though we’re in pain, God can heal our scars and give us new life. It says, “I can’t live without you.”
“Away From Me” is a hard-hitting song that is telling that which holds us down “to get away from me!”.The scream in the song seems a little out of place at first, but later grows on you. Great guitar rifts!
“Perfect” is a fantastic ending to a first release. It’s a praise song along the lines of “All Around Me” by Flyleaf. It lauds God about how “perfect He is”.
Even though comparisons to Fireflight will certainly occur, The Letter Black is a talented band deserves recognition. The highlights on this album are the vocals and the guitar rift. I give this EP a 4 out of 5. Expect big things out of this band!
Unexpected surprise| Posted September 19, 2009
Not to many female rock singers come to mind in the christian industry so when a new singer emerges I am anxious to hear the tunes.
Breaking the Silence didn't disappoint. I think they are a little heavier than fireflight and not so much as flyleaf...kind of in the middle. The ep has some great guitar riffs, male/female vocals/great lyrics. The band has their own unique sound that seperates them from similar artists.
Love the song Best of Me because it kicks off with some amazing strings (which I wasn't expecting.
Great ep for a new band...wanted more but seems like eps are the new trend for up coming artists so i'll take what I can. Believe they are touring with skillet which I think will give them a huge jump start. For an upcoming rock band who better to start a tour with than skillet.
Eh| Posted September 05, 2009
I don't have anything against this group personally but they just aren't my cup of tea. They are just a bit too hard rockish for me. But if you like goups like Fireflight, you'll probably like this group.
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