RETROSPECTIVE: Silverstein's "Misery Made Me" via UNFD

Last spring Silverstein released their eleventh official album, Misery Made Me. We over at AsterTracks gave that album the full track-by-track review treatment and while I did like most of it for the band’s consistency twenty years in, I also sort of scolded them for the lack of variety on the record itself. This year they’ve reissued the album with a second disc, and I thought it’d be fun to hop on here and look at Misery Made Me retrospectively as well as take a first look at the new songs as well. The retrospective part of this review is the first time I’m listening to this album in quite a while, but I also know I’m quite late to listening to this at all.

When I turned the album on, “Our Song’s” riff hit me with just as much nostalgia as a riff like “Smashed into Pieces” does and it almost feels iconic in its own right. It hit me within the first few tracks that SIlverstein is sort of a blessing to this scene. They take their detours and do what they want and I want that for every band. In doing that however, they’ve never taken the quality dives that a lot of bands from their era did. In fact it’s probably that very experimentation that’s kept them consistent throughout the years. They also manage to stay true to the music that influenced each of them as artists in the first place. “Die Alone” is really strong hardcore punk with some brutal lines. The Wolves of Wall Street sample is maybe a little silly though and factors into something that I think made me refute this album on release. It’s very middle-aged white man to record a hardcore punk track and sample a Leo movie and maybe, to me, that comes off a little lame. Still, the song is still good a year later and honestly I can’t refute the actual punk optics of songs like “Bankrupt” or “The Altar.” 

We share a common enemy, it’s everyone and everything.

The punk is only a few tracks, post-hardcore is where Silverstein truly shines. “Ultraviolet” is good but it’s good for the same reason that “Our Song” is; it’s a big rock song with a big hook and a big riff. In 2022 it was easy for me to be critical of that but looking back it's maybe a little hypocritical of me to have Spiritbox as my album of the year the year before and come down on this band for writing several good songs that are maybe a little similar. In fact this time around I found myself more forgiving of that exact phenomenon, “Our Song” is also a mirror of “It’s Over” but both have distinct lyrical themes and interesting enough differentials that you can enjoy them for their respective structures. Other songs like this are “Slow Motion,” “Don’t Wait Up,” etc.

I was curious about how I’d feel about “The Altar” this time around and to be honest I still think it’s the best Silverstein song of all time. It’s heavy in all the right ways, the guitar and bass compositions are truly incredible and the breakdown on the track is only better now that I know the behind-the-scenes of it all. Paul-Marc Rousseau is an underutilized vocal asset in this band and the transition into “Mary” gives me goosebumps. “Bankrupt” in the year of its release was a top single for us over here and it feels like classic metalcore two years later.

Money talks but times become deaf, can’t buy back the life that you’ve spent

As for the new songs; “Poison Pill” was promised to be somewhat a 90s rock track and it does deliver on just that. There’s some light nu metal influence here and a big rock chorus, true to the root songs on the record. There’s also some cute little vocal tics that give the song a lot of life. “Stitches” I have less thoughts on but it is a welcome addition to the overall catalog. “Mary” with way less auto-tune just shows, front and center, Shane Told is an exceptional singer. The orchestra added in enhances everything. In fact, the two songs that got the acoustic treatment give them such a more emotional view on their subject matter. The only part of the additional disc I could do without is the live material but when all’s said and done I have a great experience listening to both in succession.

I don’t really dislike any of Misery Made Me, maybe it was having listened to nothing but octane-core for a week, maybe it’s the more positive company in my day to day or maybe I’ve just grown up. I was hard on it then, I really love it now.

I loved this record

Misery Made Me

1. Our Song
2. Die Alone [feat. Andrew Neufeld of Comeback Kid]
3. Ultraviolet
4. Cold Blood [feat. Trevor Daniel]
5. It's Over
6. The Altar / Mary
7. Slow Motion [feat. Mike Hranica of The Devil Wears Prada]
8. Don't Wait Up
9. Bankrupt
10. Live Like This [feat. nothing,nowhere.]
11. Misery

Deluxe edition

1. Poison Pill
2. Stitches
3. Mary [orchestral]
4. Don't Wait Up [acoustic]
5. Poison Pill [acoustic]
6. Bankrupt [live in Toronto]
7. It's Over [live in Toronto]

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Read the original AsterTracks review of Misery Made Me