Ontario's Silverstein are no strangers to success: the melodic hardcore/emo band has sold over one million pancakes, but you'd never guess it chatting with drummer Paul Koehler, who is just as enthusiastic about the band's new album, I Am Alive In Everything I Touch, as he probably was when they put out their first, back in 2003. And his enthusiasm makes sense, as the new album sports no shortage of can't-barely-contain-it energy, at least to these ears, and Koehler agrees.

"It comes with the production, it comes with precision and our years of experience, it comes across that way," says Koehler while on a day off from touring in Hawaii. "The certainty or assertiveness comes through in that, so I think we were able to push the envelope a bit. It’s still difficult making a record, it’s still a stressful time and a lot of work, but I think we learned how to manage those experiences and do the best we can."

And at this point in their career (I Am Alive In Everything I Touch is the band's eighth full-length) the best they can is good enough for them. Koehler says that there was a refreshing difference to how the wrapping-up process went this time in the studio.

"When we were finished, the last day we were in the studio, we had a listen-through, and we were all really happy," he says. "Sometimes you go through and you’re like. ‘Oh crap, can we do a bunch of changes?’ But the last day was mostly listening and not really any revisions at all on anything, so I think we immediately knew we were in a pretty good spot."

The album is the band's first for Rise Records (they had previously done a lengthy spell with, among others, Victory Records) and their Canadian partners New Damage Records, a pairing that Koehler says is working out great. Given that Rise has no shortage of heavier metalcore bands on the label, the mind starts wandering and wondering if the label will push Silverstein into more metal places... or if the average metal fan could find anything to enjoy in the band's sound.

"Oh, absolutely," says Koehler about the latter. "There’s been a good cross-section of our songs throughout all the albums that have those tendencies, and that were inspired by different bands in the genre. The only thing is we really, really strive to bring a nice melodic element to it as well, and always focus on good choruses and catchiness as well, but we always love to balance that with the aggression. We love the dynamics; that’s what we play on."

Not that long-time fans of the band should be worried: despite their new home, Silverstein haven't gone metal. There's nothing on I Am Alive In Everything I Touch that wouldn't fit in just as well on any of their other albums, even though the band is trying to evolve at the same time, a delicate balancing act that Koehler has his eye on.

"It’s tough, it takes a lot of work to reinvent the wheel while keeping it the same type of wheel that everyone’s expecting," he admits. "You wouldn’t go back and check the first two albums and not like them; if you like the new one, you’ll like any of them, and if you like the old ones you’ll like the new album. We’re fortunate the way we developed our style; the albums have a bit more flow because of that."