VIOLENT SILENCE

Swedish act Violent Silence was formed back in 1999 in Uppsala and the first line-up included Bruno Edling on vocals, Hannes Ljunghall on keyboards, Phillip Bastin on bass and Johan Hedman on drums.So no guitars at all for Violent Silence, as the band moved on to the recordings of their self-titled debut for Record Heaven, eventually released in 2003.

Pretty hard to describe the band's overall sound, but if I was forced to make a comparison I would say that equal mixes of 80's KING CRIMSON, ENCHANT and TIEMKO or SOMBRE REPTILE would make a decent description.Very modern-sounding and fresh approach, which is quite satisfying, walking on the lines between Heavy Prog, Fusion and Electronic/Experimental Rock.One would expect the arrangements to be led by the keyboards of Ljunghall, but this is partly true.Bassist Phillip Bastin offers series of pounding, groovy and also complicated, heavy bass lines, really high in the mix and his performance is really conveincing.The keyboards of course remain the leading instrument.The album is filled with electronic loops, jazzy passages and light pianos, which give a very Fusion-like feeling to the work.Quite often Ljunghall's keys sound like glockenspiels or marimbas making the sound a bit experimental.However, when vocals added, the group obtains a really accesible atmosphere, similar to some ENCHANT ideas.The instrumental themes though are nothing like that, they have a complicated overall approach with multiple breaks based on the use of keyboards and electronics.

I admit I haven't listened to anything like Violent Silence in the past.The music is very fresh, powerful and dynamic, though the general atmosphere seems a bit sterile and dry, but for dedicated fans of the aforementioned bands I can see hailing this album as a top notch release.Warmly recommended

Don't you just love press releases? Musea state that this is one of the best Swedish newcomers in years, and that the guitars just don't get missed. Okay, there is probably no room for guitars, as there are stacks of keyboards, as well as drums and bass, but personally I found the flat vocal style very wearing indeed. Some of the singing is so atonal that it really takes any edge that there was from the music. They do go through various different styles, but the result is that the listener just can't help but feel that there is something missing from all of it and although Musea do release some very fine prog albums, this isn't one of them. In many places it has more in common with early Eighties pop than prog, and this mismatch of styles certainly doesn't help.

Originally appeared in Feedback #78, April 2004