Raw Silk - The Borders Of Light

[Stefan]

From FB:

Raw Silk burst onto the Greek and European AOR scene in the 90s with the legendary debut album Silk Under the Skin. The 2004 re-release of the album on CD brought the band back to the forefront and led to high profile reunion concerts supporting Pink Cream 69, Jeff Scott Sotto and Winger. After a second long hiatus and led by composer-drummer and Raw Silk founder Kostas Kyriakidis the band has regrouped in the UK with a brand new lineup and will soon release the elusive and long-awaited follow-up to their revered debut Silk Under the Skin.
​
The new album, entitled The Borders of Light, is a modern take on the classic metal sound of the late 80s featuring 10 brand new tracks with a total running time of over 60 minutes. Seamlessly bridging past and present, The Borders of Light delivers strong melodies combined with signature keyboard lines and heavy riffs. Superbly recorded and produced at Vault Studios in the rock heartlands of the Black Country.


www.rawsilk-official.com

Tracks:

1 One Lifetime
2 Nobody Fills the Loneliness
3 Chimera
4 Night Time Angels
5 The Road You’ve Taken
6 Losing My Mind
7 Distressed and Powerless
8 Out of Reach
9 The Borders of Light
10 Solitude of Pain

 

 

[Geoff]

Well my enthusiasm for this one died the moment I read that it was basically an entirely new band, just with the drummer from the original band. Seriously, how can a band retain it's name 30 years on without a peep since and only the drummer as an original member?

 

Anyway, that said, when I actually heard the song, my interest was moderately re-ignited. I do like that song, and I will definitely check out this album... but is it really going to be Raw Silk at all?

 

Also, 10 tracks and over an hour's worth of music - that's not a good sign.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

...

 

 

What Geoff said. I was all, "Holy shit! I didn't expect this!!" And then I was, "Oh, well that's unfortunate."

 

I haven't heard the snippet, yet, though.

[All Nights Reserved]

They are true to their name, it sounds raw. But I love the singer's Van Halen T-shirt.

[Nightrain]

well nobody remembers their original members anyway and i think retaining the old name won't cause any legal trouble so why not

 

that song is quite okay, but well 60 minutes of an album could turn this band into Rage of Angels ?

[Geoff]

well nobody remembers their original members anyway and i think retaining the old name won't cause any legal trouble so why not

 

Yeah, no reason. Just that it is in no way shape or form the "real" Raw Silk.

 

Imagine, for the sake of the discussion, the drummer from Trouble Tribe released an album with 3 random dudes this year, but used the name Trouble Tribe. Would that be okay?

 

I know that's random... was just trying to think of a good American band who only released one great album back in the day. Just because these dudes were massively unknown and Greek, doesn't make this any more acceptable.

[gener8tr]

... but that hi-hat sure harkens back to the glory days.

[Silverkin]

I'm pretty excited about the new album. Not sure if people realise that the drummer was also the composer of all the tracks on Silk Under the Skin so created the original Raw Silk sound and I'm sure he'll have included continuity with this album - although it's hopefully progressed somewhat after 27years.

[Silverkin]

 

well nobody remembers their original members anyway and i think retaining the old name won't cause any legal trouble so why not

 

Yeah, no reason. Just that it is in no way shape or form the "real" Raw Silk.

 

Imagine, for the sake of the discussion, the drummer from Trouble Tribe released an album with 3 random dudes this year, but used the name Trouble Tribe. Would that be okay?

Valid comments depending on how you view things Did get me wondering though what "real" Raw Silk (or any other band) actually means. Is it the sound? the members? the concept?

A lot of bands change their sound over the years while retaining the original line-up. Others change the line-up but keep the sound.

Judging from the album artwork and the 1st single (Nobody Fills the Loneliness) I'd say the Raw Silk concept and original elements are still there 100% but just moved on a bit so it's giving something back to the original fans while also hopefully offering something for new listeners. That'd be my take on it anyways

[Geoff]

Fair point. I'd actually completely agree that I'd rather here a band I love retain their sounds rather than their members with a changed sound. So yeah, I can see that... it's just a "thing," though, for me, that I still don't view it as the real original band if the members aren't there. More like a good cover band, I guess.

 

Anyway, I hope this album is good. I really wish the songs were shorter, but I hope they're good.

[Silverkin]

Fair point. I'd actually completely agree that I'd rather here a band I love retain their sounds rather than their members with a changed sound. So yeah, I can see that... it's just a "thing," though, for me, that I still don't view it as the real original band if the members aren't there. More like a good cover band, I guess.

 

Anyway, I hope this album is good. I really wish the songs were shorter, but I hope they're good.

Should I admit I've heard the whole album and love it? I believe Rockchicks radio in Germany are planning to do a show playing several tracks from it sometime soon (on DJ Sonny's Easy Monday slot) so you could watch out for that if you wanted a preview, although it's not too long til it's released fully. Re song lengths, there's only one really long track on the album, the others are pretty standard length I'd say. Even the long track doesn't feel long to me though. I'd say it's in the same vein as Stairway to Heaven or Bohemian Rhapsody but then I'm no expert or true music critic.

[Geoff]

Haha. As I posted that, I actually wondered if there was just one or two songs that dragged out the length of the album. But yeah, I'll check it out when possible. I am curious.

[Delbert]

I agree, as long as the "sound" of the band remains fairly intact, even though the band members have changed. I think the most dramatic member change in most bands comes from the singer. Although, in the case of the Swedish band FATAL SMILE, their debut "Left In A Shadow" was a very melodic affair. After that release, the band shifted into a Malmsteen style.

 

I was admitedly a bit excited when I heard there was a new release forthcoming from the band. Nothing dynamically different, but still enjoyable!

[kourosofsteel3]

Haha. As I posted that, I actually wondered if there was just one or two songs that dragged out the length of the album. But yeah, I'll check it out when possible. I am curious.

 

 

All wars matter, even the internet ones.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

 

Haha. As I posted that, I actually wondered if there was just one or two songs that dragged out the length of the album. But yeah, I'll check it out when possible. I am curious.

 

All wars matter, even the internet ones.

Especially the internet ones.

[Silverkin]

Awww am I creating an internet war? It all feels very civilised

 

If the one writing the songs is the main constant I reckon that makes a big difference too though. Like Bob Dylan (if I'm allowed to mention folk singers on a rock site ) His radical changes in sound make no difference to me, I more or less love everything he writes as you can 'hear' him throughout .

 

Then again, if a band has done multiple albums with the same lineup then I would probably take a while to get used to a new frontman. I couldn't imagine Depeche Mode without Dave Gahan for example buuuuuuuuttttt I think if it turned out that it was one member of the band who had written all the songs and he released something new without Dave then it would make a world of difference as long as it still had strong elements of the Depeche Mode sound.

 

So I reckon we're all actually in agreement with each other with slight deviations.

 

I do know that Kostas Kyriakidis wrote all the tracks for Silk Under the Skin as well this 2nd album The Borders of Light. He's written other music which he released under a different band name as the sound was radically different to Raw Silk so I'm sure he'll have stuck to the original sound to some extent with this one.

[Geoff]

I see no internet war here either. Just my one desire to beat Karpetface to a pulp... but I want to remove that from the net and bring it to life.

[Silverkin]

Poor Karpetface

[KarpetRydOFunk]

It really is sad that we live on opposite ends of the world.

[Silverkin]

It really is sad that we live on opposite ends of the world.

Ah but it really is a small world

[Glen]

My moneys on Nolan

[KarpetRydOFunk]

 

It really is sad that we live on opposite ends of the world.

Ah but it really is a small world

You wanna pay for my flight?

[Silverkin]

Hmmm but i'm the one who loves to travel

[Geoff]

 

 

It really is sad that we live on opposite ends of the world.

Ah but it really is a small world

You wanna pay for my flight?

 

 

My money's on me.

 

Glen, you should pay for the flights. If Nolan is victorious, I will reimburse you for the entire expense. When he is not, you can pay for his corpse to be transported back to Canada, or I can just get rid of it somewhere. I'm cool either way.

[Silverkin]

Just an update on this from Raw Silk facebook page for anyone interested:

BIT SOONER THAN EXPECTED BUT IT'S ACTUALLY OUT THERE!!!

Thanks to the hard work of our retail partners our new CD "The Borders of Light" is out earlier than anticipated in selected record stores.

Available NOW at No Remorse Records store Greece

http://www.noremorse.gr/product_info.php?products_id=64581

And Rock Avenue records, Japan.

Will be available from the rawsilk-official.com website in the next couple of days too.