NEPA Scene Staff

Prog metal bands Silent Planet and Invent Animate hit Ritz Theater in Scranton on May 9

Prog metal bands Silent Planet and Invent Animate hit Ritz Theater in Scranton on May 9
Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page

From a press release:

It was announced today that progressive metalcore bands Silent Planet and Invent Animate, who recently unveiled a new collaborative project, will also join forces on The Bloom in Heaven Tour this spring with 156/Silence and Allt.

This North American run, named after their upcoming EP, begins in Texas on April 17 and includes performances at major music festivals like Sonic Temple and Welcome to Rockville, wrapping up on May 16. Both Silent Planet and Invent Animate will be playing their latest full-length albums in full – “Superbloom” and “Heavener,” respectively.

The tour comes to The Ritz Theater (222 Wyoming Ave., Scranton) on Friday, May 9. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the 18+ show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets go on sale this Friday, Jan. 31 at 10 a.m. via theritztheater.com.

Formed in Azusa, California in 2009, Silent Planet is known for their unique fusion of storytelling lyrics and modern metal. Blending the traditional sonic staples of heavy music with inventive electronic elements and intentional sound design, they create an immersive world sonically while lyrically and thematically unraveling tales across five studio albums.

After releasing “Superbloom” via Solid State Records in 2023, the band has shared a deeply compelling narrative video for the title track in early 2024.

“We decided to make a video around an alternate interpretation of our title track ‘Superbloom’ that is largely inspired by ‘Midsommar’ and the Heaven’s Gate cult suicides,” the group shared.

“We teamed up with our longtime video partners Hometown Team and collaborated on the story. We were fortunate to work with two actors who have an incredible amount of experience in the genre: Jenna Kannell [“Terrifier”] and Jess Matney. And a bunch of our listeners came along as extras. We feel that this video is our best work to date.”

Silent Planet has consistently transfixed a diehard fanbase. They dropped a string of acclaimed albums, including “The Night God Slept” (2014), “Everything Was Sound” (2016), “When the End Began” (2018), and “Iridescent” (2021). Album standout “Trilogy” generated 5.3 million Spotify streams to sit alongside their genre-bending triumph “Panic Room” from the 2016 release, currently at five million. The guys notably took home Best Underground Band at the 2017 Alternative Press Music Awards and toured with the likes of Motionless In White, August Burns Red, Beartooth, and The Contortionist.

Over the course of two years, they recorded what would become “Superbloom” in Woodland Hills, California alongside longtime producer and frequent collaborator Daniel Braunstein. A jarring turn of events split the process into two seasons. Trekking through a Wyoming snowstorm in November of 2022, Silent Planet survived a vehicle accident. The van flipped over, leaving the group laying in the wreckage of a bitter Wyoming snowstorm as lead vocalist/guitarist Garrett Russell was hospitalized with a fractured back and head wound requiring stitches.

“The majority of us were awake when we felt the van start to slide,” he recalled.

“We had some time to come to grips with the fact we were about to go down and have a close brush with death. Afterwards, we talked about what to do with the band. We went back into the record with an increased willingness to take risks. It bolstered our confidence to try new things. When the accident happened, it did something to my head, and it fed into the album.”

Along the way, they settled on a conceptual framework, expanding the scope of their vision like never before.

“I grew up in Northern California,” he continued.

“There’s a strip of the state known as Humboldt County, but it’s called the ‘Lost Cove.’ It’s a hotbed for strange and paranormal events like UFO and Bigfoot sightings. There’s so much we haven’t uncovered. It’s possible our reality as we know it is not complete. We started telling the tale of a 17-year-old who went missing. It’s based on a true story with many details changed. Art dictates reality, and reality dictates art. Making this record was a very strange and mystical process. It’s the most magical and inspired moment of our career so far.”

Their next project, a collaboration with Invent Animate titled “Bloom In Heaven,” is set for release on March 28. The single out now, “Return to One,” is the first of three tracks, or “stories,” featured on the EP.

Invent Animate formed in Port Neches, Texas in 2011 and released two albums, “Everchanger” (2014) and “Stillworld” (2016), with singer Ben English via Tragic Hero Records. In late 2016, the group was fresh off a European Tour with ERRA and Northlane in support of their “Stillworld” (No. 133 Billboard Top 200 and No. 30 Top Current Albums, respectively) when they announced the departure of English on social media. His sudden exit forced them to take a step back from touring and search for a new singer. This left people wondering what was to come of the band, but in 2017, they teased everyone with an instrumental version of “Stillworld” and encouraged fans to record their own vocals on the songs as an open audition to be the next vocalist. In just a few days, their search was over and the band went completely silent.

On Nov. 8, 2019, Invent Animate broke that silence with “Cloud Cascade,” the first new song and music video from the band in over three years. It was also the first time fans heard the new vocalist, Marcus Vik, formerly of Aviana. They made their full return on March 13 with a full-length album, “Greyview,” and followed that up with their head-turning fourth album “Heavener” in 2023 via UNFD.

The visually arresting video for the title track is full of fast-moving, somewhat blurred visuals, offering up a different perspective every time it is viewed. The song itself, which has beautiful, shimmering qualities, shows off the band’s deftness with dynamics. It was written as a continuation of the album, with the intention to encompass the entire feeling of that record.

“In a time of internal panic, having a person that constantly reminds you that they have a place of home can be crucial when trying to bring someone down to Earth again. The song ‘Heavener’ is about reassurance; it’s about trying to convince your closest person that you see and hear them in their internal and helpless drift. A lot of love and pain goes into the work of showing the one closest to you that only they can create their own internal heaven, as they are their own ‘Heavener,'” Vik explained.

“We actually had a few ‘B sides’ sitting around, but we’re really stubborn in thinking that the next thing we write will always be better than the thing before,” guitarist Keaton Goldwire added.

“{Bassist] Caleb [Sherraden] had the idea to make a song titled ‘Heavener’ after the record was done, and I got to work trying to make a song that seemed like it encompassed the feeling of the album as a whole. Going into the lyrics, Marcus, too, wrote a song that defined ‘Heavener’ for him, since it’s not necessarily one idea or thing. We wanted to try our best to wrap everything up into one song as a sort of ‘end credits,’ so to speak.”