KINETIC

This is the second effort from Swedish five piece formation Vilent Silence. I am not familiar with their fist one but listening to Kinetic I have to say that they are an interesting new progrock band. Their music often sounds like an encounter of electronic music (keyboards), symphonic rock (structure of the songs) and progressive metal (dynamic and powerful rhythm-section). The two keyboard players are omnipresent, they colour the compositions lush and tasteful with modern and varied sounds. Highlight is the long track Quiet Stalker (at about 18 minutes) featuring many shifting moods and spectacular keyboard sounds. Only the vocals sometimes sound a bit dull. To me Violent Silence is a fresh and promising band, perhaps the addition of a guitarplayer will give the music more variety, some tracks tend to sound a bit similar. But in general this CD has lots of strong musical ideas.

I remember buying the debut from these Swedes after reading some very positive reviews on different progsites. I was intrigued by the fact that they had no guitarist in their line-up and that almost all the reviewers mentioned quite different bands they were supposed to sound like: Anglagard, late King crimson, Rush, Police, Gentle Giant, Elp, Mars Volta, Uk, Landberk and Anekdoten. When I listened to it I found it good and absolutely unique but a bit samey and impenetrable at first. But there was something about it that made me come back to it. After some more listens it finally clicked with me and I now consider it one of the best records of 2003.

The sound of the band is indeed hard to describe. The swirling synthesizers often play contrapuntal lines with the sound of marimbas which gives the music a floating, hypnotic and very dense impression. The rhythm section, which is one of the strongest I´ve ever heard, play steady, heavy and sometimes quite jazzy rhythms. And it´s all topped off with the very good voice of singer Bruno Edling, who also surprises with some great and very memorable vocal lines over the complicated rhythms. Sometimes the music is very heavy and dissonant almost bordering on progmetal, sometimes it´s very mellow and melodic. Sometimes it´s extremely complex but they never lose sight of what constitutes a good song, dense arrangements or not. The second album Kinetic finds them adding an additional keyboardist and new textures and sounds to their already unique music. What´s more is that this time the results are even more extraordinary.

1. Morning Star (10/10)

A short, very quiet and melancholy intro with some great melodies and some odd twists and turns. A very dynamic little song with a sublime final section, which soon gives way to.

2. Kinetic (10/10)

.the ridiculously fast and heavy titletrack. This is one track which makes it impossible for me to sit still. The energy level is extraordinary and is topped off by some eye- poppingly fast and off-kilter virtuosity courtesy of the fantastic rhythm section. Great melodies as well. After the intensity level reaches boilingpoint, the song calms down for a heavy and very majestic final section.

3. Torrential Rains (10/10)

A very appropriate song title as this track with its heavy use of marimbas really conveys the sound of a storm in effect. The music in the first two verses are heavy, strange and brooding and gives way to a fast and very melodic chorus that will stay in your mind for days afterwards. Once again the rhythm section shines like a lighthouse, especially drummer Johan Hedman. Not to take anything away from the rest of this great song but the midsection is absolutely blinding.

4. Night Lights (8/10)

A nice little intermission that almost feels like its too short. A very good and atmospheric piece of music nonetheless.

5. Sky Burial (10/10)

After the energy of the first half of the album the band drops it all down quite a few notches for the slow, sluggish and spacey Sky Burial which carries some of the best melodies I´ve heard in quite some time. The hypnotic trance of the keyboards is spellbinding. The icing on the cake are the very touching lyrics and a dreamy and melodic mid section. Pure genius.

6. Subzero (10/10)

After the brilliance of the first five tracks you´d be forgiven for thinking that this level of songwriting can´t last. Not so as the band launches into Subzero, the most melodic track on the album. I´ve read in an other review that this would be a hit if it was released as a single in the seventies. I couldn´t agree more. Great chorus and an insanely fantastic midsection where the keyboardists duel it out.

7. Quiet Stalker

An ominous intro gives way to the very strange chords underlying the quite hard-to- grasp vocal lines that open the albums 18-minute centrepiece Quiet Stalker. It´s one whale of a song which covers every mood and every aspect imaginable of prog or art rock or whatever. Initially it is a daunting and not so easy task to figure out the piece because of the ingenuity and the complexity of the writing, but when you do the rewards are staggering. The highlight is the long instrumental mid section which is too great for words. I´ve always found it hard to find a long track that is as good as Close to the Edge, Gates of Delirium or Supper´s Ready. This time I´ve finally found one. True Genius and one of the greatest pieces of music I´ve ever heard!

8. Homesick (7/10)

A floating and peaceful outro that puts the final stamp on the blinding quality that oozes out of this monumental work as a whole.

Because of the bands uniqueness in sound some things on the album might take a while to sink in. But I plead to anyone reading this to give this great band a thorough listen. Whether or not you prefer 70´s prog, prog metal or art rock. I promise you that you will not be disappointed.

In a perfect world this would sell by the bucketload because to me this is nothing short of a future classic. Needless to say this is one highly recommended piece of music.

One record to check.

Check it out, man. Even if you don't dig the reviews, be sure to at least listen to one song (Kinetic would be a good gauge) in case you really like it. Because if you do, you'll probably think you've discovered something unique and exotic.

This is nothing like I possess in my collection. Just like Carptree a few months ago, Sweden once again gives us tremendous innovation with Violent Silence. This band has a sound that's 100% fresh. Althought the band chemistry has been used in bands like Fürhs Shick and Fröling (2 keyboardists), Emerson Lake and Palmer, Triumvirat or Trace, this has nothing to do with them! Honestly, maybe a blend of the 'Vespertine' album by Björk and Boards of Canada could give you an idea. To me, this is 2005's freshest pick!

Yep, not one inch of guitar. 2 keyboardists and a drummer is enough to create a whole new sound as well as a new world. Sometimes you're caught in a harsh snow storm, the other it's gazing at snowflakes slowly falling down a cloudy day. The atmosphere is easy to taste, but I cannot use another word but 'freezing' to describe a theme of winter. Many times the keys reminds me of video games tunes (especially Mega Man series) I used to like, maybe the xylophone and vintage sounds are in for something? A real sense of nostalgia is emerging, I hope you'll catch it too.

This is not electronic prog per se, but it comes close in terms of feeling. Amateurs of Mogwai, Tortoise or Boards of Canada in the legendary album 'Music has the Right to Children'. Some sites thought this is hard to get into, I frankly have to say that to me, this has benn a natural move; jumping from symphonic to electronica.

Different, moody and exquisite.

An interesting band from Sweden who have a fairly unique sound. That's in part to the fact they have no guitarist and two keyboardists. The vocalist has a modern sound to his singing which i'm not really a fan of. I do like how melancholic this album is, I just wish there was some of that Lifeson style ("Permanent Waves") guitar instead of just keyboards. Still this is a pretty good album that has been getting very good reviews.

"Morning Star" opens with soft sounds as reserved vocals join in. Synths and keyboards only end it in a melancholic manner. "Kinetic" is where we get some energy with drums and synths leading. Vocals a minute in. I like the instrumental section 3 1/2 minutes in. Vocals are back a minute later. A calm after 5 minutes to end it again in a melancholic way. "Torrential Rains" opens with synths before the heaviness takes over followed by vocals. "Night Lights" is a short and sad soundscape with synths and organ.

"Sky Burial" features drums, keyboards and vocals. A laid back and at times dreamy tune. "Subzero" is one of the few tracks where I can hear the bass. Again synths, vocals and drums standout. "Quiet Stalker" is the epic at 18 minutes. It's dark and experimental early. I like it. Drums and vocals after a minute. Not a fan of this though. The instrumental section before 5 minutes is better and more intense. Vocals are back unfortunately. It's heavier after 9 minutes with drums and synths. "Homesick" is the short conclusion. Synths build slowly as soft vocals join in. Kind of cool.

It seems like the critics and fans love this album so take my 3 stars rating with a grain of salt. And why do I have such a hard time saying the band's name ?

Prog without guitar has been done many times but never quite like this. Crisp electronic synth patches shine like polished chrome, "playing off" one another in modern counterpoint. Although beautifully lush moments are not infrequent, the real surprise is how often this music powerfully flirts with the borderline of hard rock and even metal.

Without sequencing ahead of time, it would take more than 2 hands to perform this music live. Good thing they have 2 keyboardists in the band! Bass Guitar and a real drumkit successfully conspire to retain some measure of organic warmth.

One cautionary note: although the compositions vary, the "sound" never strays too far from a relatively focused timbral range. (Perhaps that is a plus for fans of "continuity!) With a combination of coloration and style as unique as this, I can't say I blame the band for staking this sonic territory as their own. I am left wondering, however, at what point, might this 'signature sound' impose boundaries upon their range of expression? That, however, is a question for future albums. For now, I simply cannot consider this as anything less than a major breakthrough for the sound of modern progressive rock.

Top notch album

Violent Silence is five piece band from Sweden with 2 albums released so far. The second release from 2005 named Kinetic is true gem in prog filed. Quite original in many parts, this band sounds fresh and inventive most of the time. I'm not aware of their first album, but this one is really great from start to finish. This is the type of prog without guitar and instead the keyboards has an important role here, but don't expect something a la ELP, no, this is diffrent and is very good and original. The music is powerfull, intresting and has plenty of memorable passages, specially in pieces like Torrential Rains or Kinetic, very strong musicianship. What is intresting on this release is that they incorporated in the eclectic sound some very strong electronic keyboards, that goes very well here in this context. Quiet Stalker is a 18 min long tune with some fantstic instrumental passages, nice moods and twists here, the 2 keybordist done a very nice job, really great. Kinetic is one of the albums that needs a far better recognition world wide because they worth it big time. Original and inventive are the words to discribe this little album very unknown. Well done guys. 4 stars easy and recommended.

Review #3

Keyboard power.

Today I would like to introduce you to this absolutely unique Swedish band. They are characterized by a special line-up: Instead of one guitarist (as you would expect in "normal prog") the band has two keyboardists! Who now thinks that only a sticky wall of pads and sounds will come out of this, is very much mistaken. Because "Violent Silence" define a very own sound - carried by keyboards and a very strong rhythm section. The keyboards create not only spacious soundscapes but also extraordinary rhythmic contributions (of course, the accents of the guitar have to be compensated somehow - exciting!) and prepare a solid, harmonic carpet for the singer Bruno Edling. Especially the use of the marimba sounds gives the music of "Violent Silence" a whole own coloring. That the technique does not dominate, however, can be seen in the strong melodies that the band creates in their varied arrangements. The special thing about the music from my point of view is the high mood content, which is shown in very short songs like "Night Lighst", but also the epic longtrack "Quiet Stalker".

I discovered the band by chance at that time and am still enthusiastic about "Kinetic" today. Sixteen years after its release, this album sounds just as modern and progressive as it did back then. The good production and the high musicality make this album a very special insider tip for all fans of modern progressive rock music.