In 2000, Alex Beyrodt left the band of Mathias Lasch, better known as Mat Sinner; Henjo Richter joined SINNER, while Alex founded SILENT FORCE, recruiting a drummer, keyboardist, and bassist and deciding to forgo a second guitar. Now about the vocalist: the sole foreigner in this German band was the American DC Cooper. He had made his mark on the third and fourth ROYAL HUNT albums — establishing himself as a first-rate vocalist with a memorable deep timbre, wide range, and particular expressiveness in the lower registers. His voice is directly associated with such stunning dramatic creations by ROYAL HUNT leader Andre Andersen as "Last Goodbye," "Far Away," "Time," and "Message to God." After leaving the famous Danish outfit, he managed to record a solo disc with the help of musicians from PINK CREAM 69, and in 2000 he joined SILENT FORCE.
SILENT FORCE's debut disc turned out to be guitar- and vocal-oriented. The keyboards serve mostly as background accompaniment and are occasionally used for introductions. Stylistically, we have epic power metal with minor progressive elements. The vocal approach reminds us of the ROYAL HUNT albums — namely, multiple choir layers recorded by Cooper over the main parts, with virtually no solo-voice passages, even during verses. The one thing that must be noted, unfortunately, is that DC's voice here doesn't possess the depth and poignancy it had on the ROYAL HUNT albums. Furthermore, the album's mastering is quite puzzling — at times the vocals are pushed back, at times the guitars sound distant, and the volume balance between parts periodically seems odd. Overall, the album is quite decent; no earth-shattering originality is felt, and the disc is primarily recommended for fans of Cooper's vocals. As a bonus, the reissued AFM Records disc includes an acoustic version of the track "Saints And Sinners."