Silent Path is a one man metal project. More to the point, a one man black metal project. Those make me nervous. One man metal projects of any kind tend to be the result of one person having so many “great” ideas that they just have to get them out. Some are great, but in a lot of cases the ideas fall short of actual musical ability(see Satanic Tony and Wintercold ). 

Silent Path falls somewhere in the middle. There is a lot of potential in Mourner Portraits, but it just isn’t fully realized. The music feels empty. I know some say “less is more,” but that does not apply here. Many of the songs are long and ride only a couple of guitar chords with some sparse drumming and distorted muffled growls and screams to round out the mix. There is a strong sense of atmosphere, mainly in the form of oppressive sadness. It’s biggest downfall is the lack of any real substance. It gets so boring about halfway through that I just get the urge to listen to something else. I have the feeling that is what most people will do when presented with this listening experience.  It’s a respectable effort, but it just doesn’t do anything, well, at all, really