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VIOLENT SILENCE

Crossover Prog • Sweden


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Violent Silence biography
Swedish act VIOLENT SILENCE was formed as the creative vehicle of composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Johan Hedman. VIOLENT SILENCE has made four albums to date, the self-titled debut album from 2003, "Kinetic" (2005), "A Broken Truce" (2013), and "Twilight Furies" in November 2020.

"Violent Silence represent a playful crossover music, rich with nuance, that combine heavy propulsive rhythms with aerilly lyrical passages. All in a great number of original arrangements, frequently with different themes and rhythm patterns that are ingeniously contrasted with each other. Violent Silence clearly makes for a colorful and eventful listening experience, from a band that gives a surprisingly mature impression." --------- Upsala Nya Tidning ---------

"More progressive than progressive rock, more intense than whatever, the art which Violent Silence proposes is neither easily describable nor comparable to anything else. The songs prove to be stuffed with genius and class... Do you want to discover a really original group? Here is one!" --------- Zicazic ---------

"Violent Silence are widely touted as being the 'next big thing' in Swedish progressive rock circles" --------- DPRP ---------

"In a musical climate dominated by stereotypical bands that infinitely repeat things made by others, Violent Silence forcefully demonstrate that they are a great new band."--------- Rock Impressions ---------

"If Kinetic does not yield the band some major attention and give them a major push to the forefront of progressive music, then I would be very surprised, not to mention disappointed." --------- Sea of Tranquility ---------

"Loaded with polyrhythmic song structures and melodically original compositions, the talented Swedes have managed to record a genuinely progressive album ... highly recommended for anyone wishing to hear something different in the progressive genre that is all too often self-imitable and only progressive in a generic sense... In short, a work of indisputable musical brilliance." --------- Metal Discovery ---------

"Violent Silence is a TRUE progressive group, hear all! Their music is completely in opposition to suitabilities while borrowing from many different styles. The delicacy of the keyboards, alternating sounds of vibraphones and moog, in combination with the rhythmic power and the great voice of the singer all makes for an astonishing mixture." ---------...
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VIOLENT SILENCE discography


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VIOLENT SILENCE top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

2.91 | 31 ratings
Violent Silence
2003
3.84 | 52 ratings
Kinetic
2005
3.63 | 44 ratings
A Broken Truce
2013
3.60 | 25 ratings
Twilight Furies
2020

VIOLENT SILENCE Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

VIOLENT SILENCE Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

VIOLENT SILENCE Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

VIOLENT SILENCE Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

VIOLENT SILENCE Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Kinetic by VIOLENT SILENCE album cover Studio Album, 2005
3.84 | 52 ratings

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Kinetic
Violent Silence Crossover Prog

Review by Smurfreviews

4 stars 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.

 Twilight Furies by VIOLENT SILENCE album cover Studio Album, 2020
3.60 | 25 ratings

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Twilight Furies
Violent Silence Crossover Prog

Review by Smurfreviews

4 stars Review #1

There are always two kinds of albums - the kind where after the first listen you already say that the music on the album sounds good, and the other kind where the music on the album can only be fully grasped after multiple listens. It is exactly to this second group that the new album by Violent Silence belongs. One thing is certain: this is undoubtedly an excellent album, because there is so much more going on here than one might initially suspect.

The star of the album is clearly Johan Hedman. His way of playing the keys is completely unique with regard to the progressive rock spectrum. Due to the fact that there is no guitarist in the band, Hedman gives his keyboards a special role in the tracks. They accompany the basic mood, break with expected twists and turns, and in turn shine in places where you wouldn't expect it. Hedman's trademark is the sometimes enormously complex polyrhythms, coupled with very multi-layered songwriting (which encompasses moods ranging from melancholy fragile to hectic and restless) and a sense for the right moment to keep the music together. And if you think now that Johan Hedman is already doing enough with his keyboards, you might be surprised to hear that he also recorded all the drum tracks. Maybe this is the reason why the rhythmic parts are so well coordinated. However, it is certain that he is also a talented drummer who gives his music the right heartbeat.

Another striking component in the music is the singer Erik Forsberg. If you don't take time to listen to the album, you might say Forsberg is the weak point of the album. I will say, however, that Forsberg's vocal contributions create refreshing contrasts in the music that are not usually found on progressive rock albums. With his deep, raspy, but also very interesting voice, "Twilight Furies" is given a distinct musical identity, which is maintained until the end of the album.

In the end, the new album of "Violent Silence" deserves some patience at the beginning - because only then you realize what perfection, what musicality and what talent is behind everything. For fans of keyboard-oriented prog music, this album is definitely a must!

 Twilight Furies by VIOLENT SILENCE album cover Studio Album, 2020
3.60 | 25 ratings

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Twilight Furies
Violent Silence Crossover Prog

Review by thesimilitudeofprog

3 stars Violent Science is made up of Johan Hedman, on keyboards, percussion, and backing vocals; Erik Forsberg, on lead vocals; Hannes Ljunghall, on keyboards and Simon Svensson on bass. The band has released three prior too Twilight Furies. A Broken Truce (2013), Kinetic (2005); and their self-titled debut (2003). Since I do not know the previous albums, I don't compare them either.

Twilight Furies is a real keyboard album, but in a completely different sense than you would initially assume. This was a pleasant surprise, as I thought it was going to be something completely different. Twilight Furies opens with a keyboard intro called Fair Warning. Which reminded me a lot of Marillion. Lunar Sunrise contains Erik Forsberg's best vocals. But it is still the unique and complex keyboards that fascinate your ears. One of the best songs on the album and reminds me a lot of Camel. In the final two-minute Perilous Borders (another outstanding track) they show that they can also be relaxed and beautiful, with a subtle Mellotron background.

Personally, I think there is room for some much-needed aggression on the album. This is where vocalist Forsberg shines. The rougher side of his voice brings a kind of conflict with it at times, where the slightly off-key singing brings a layer of mildly unsettling originality.

Twilight Furies benefits from repeated listens to be able to start connecting with its true emotional core.

Rating-70%

Recommended Tracks: Lunar Sunrise & Perilous Borders.

 Twilight Furies by VIOLENT SILENCE album cover Studio Album, 2020
3.60 | 25 ratings

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Twilight Furies
Violent Silence Crossover Prog

Review by Windhawk
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars Swedish band VIOLENT SILENCE have been a going entity since the late 1990's, and since they released their first studio album in 2003 a total of four albums have been issued by the band. "Twilight Furies" is their most recent production, and was released through local Swedish label Open Mind Records in the late fall season of 2020.

The very best parts of "Twilight Furies" are amazing, fantastic and brilliant. The manner in which multiple keyboards with and without rhythm functions combines with bass, drums and percussion can at times be breathtaking, and while at times starkly different in scope and approach the particular retro-oriented sound explored on this album makes me think of recent US symphonic progressive rock band The Psychedelic Ensemble, for those who are aware of that project. While the vocals are a clear weak point of this production, those who know, love and treasure retro-oriented progressive rock with keyboards as the main instrument and clear connections to symphonic progressive rock as a specific style orientation will find a lot to cherish on "Twilight Furies". And if you in addition love strong rhythms work in general and percussion in particular, I do suspect that you'll find this album to be well worth your time.

 A Broken Truce by VIOLENT SILENCE album cover Studio Album, 2013
3.63 | 44 ratings

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A Broken Truce
Violent Silence Crossover Prog

Review by Progulator
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Violent Silence was a bit of a surprise, one of those bands that takes me a couple of listens to get into, not because of music that is not accessible (their tunes are very approachable), but for some reason I didn't appreciate it as much the first time. Once I got into it though, I found Violent Silence to be a group with a familiar yet interesting compositional direction that emphasizes the use of simple themes and melodies and moves the tracks along with clear and powerful vocals. Being an album of just four songs, I couldn't help but love the format of lengthy pieces that really let the ideas breathe and develop on their own without being in a rush to squeeze in a formulaic number of verses and choruses. The opener, "Prism Path" is a great example of this, particularly as you start to reach the last few minutes of the piece where the band makes use of subtle repetition, growing dynamics, striking vocals, and the reintroduction of an earlier theme to round off the song. Fans of neo-prog or 90′s revival ala' Morse or TFK should dig this.
 A Broken Truce by VIOLENT SILENCE album cover Studio Album, 2013
3.63 | 44 ratings

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A Broken Truce
Violent Silence Crossover Prog

Review by Second Life Syndrome
Prog Reviewer

4 stars "Those keys! Oh, those keys!" That is what I say every time I listen to this album. Violent Silence is a band from Sweden with a penchant for unique and proggy music. "A Broken Truce" is their third album, and it actually took about eight years to get it made. That is understandable as the members have been busy in other endeavors. Both Bjorn Westen and Hannes Ljunghall, the primary keyboardists, had been busy with another group called Hidden Lands (if you get a chance to hear them, be sure you do!). So, the band is back together again, and they have come out swinging.

"A Broken Truce" is made up of only four tracks, all of them over ten minutes in length. These "epics", if you will, are lush, full, and never pointless. Indeed, there is no filler here at all. The band's promo sheet says that their music is "detailed", and for once I agree with a promo sheet. This music is layered, meaningful, and always moving, There are so many fragile subtleties that require keen attention in order to appreciate this album fully. Yes, I think headphones are required.

The band has a sound that few share. Active, cymbal-laden drumming meets with deep bass and amazing keys. There are no guitars here as far as I can tell. And you know what? They don't need any. The dual keyboardists sound amazing together, especially since they have such unique synth settings. They sound somewhat spacey, but lush and organic, too. It's a special sound that I just love, and "A Broken Truce" hands down contains some of the best keyboard work of 2013.

The vocalist has an interesting voice that never seems to sound the same. It is somewhat high-pitched, but he manages his voice expertly. He phrases his lines in strangely beautiful fashions, especially on my favorite track "Rim of Clouds". His voice is playful, yet focused; humble, yet confident. It's a voice that grows on you more and more with each listen.

Violent Silence's long-awaited album is no disappointment. It meshes amazing elements with mature ideas and performances to craft one of the most interesting albums of the year. Any serious prog fan should give this a listen.

 A Broken Truce by VIOLENT SILENCE album cover Studio Album, 2013
3.63 | 44 ratings

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A Broken Truce
Violent Silence Crossover Prog

Review by DrömmarenAdrian

3 stars Violent Silence is a Swedish prog band from Uppsala, our fourth city. They have been releasing three record since 2003. Now ten years after they have released their third record "A broken truce" which is a quite rich record with a lot of symphonic tunes.

What's special with Violent Silence is that they don't use guitar. Insted they have a lot of keyboards in different varieties. On this record they show some fantastic ingredients to occupy your mind with. The keyboardists of this record explore the world of melodies and do it very well. I prefer the instrumental parts of it, even if the singer is worth praising for his inputs. The singer though perhaps should be more varied and I had wanted some more variation even from the melodies. I don't miss guitar, the keyboards do a perfect job.

I rate the songs: 7,6,7,6 and the best one is according to me the first one "Prism Path" but I also recommend "The Kingdom Below" which is wonderful in its own way. On "Prism Path" I think the singer sounds almost like Moon Safari and the music feels honest and free. They surely have their own style. "The Kingdom Below" contains an interesting part with drums and keyboards playing like shocks of power.

The keyboardists Johan Hedman, Hannes Ljunghall and Björn Westin, the drummer Johan Hedman, the bassist Anders Lindskog and the vocalist Martin Ahlquist shall deserve credit and the final review will be: "A good record". Three stars!

 A Broken Truce by VIOLENT SILENCE album cover Studio Album, 2013
3.63 | 44 ratings

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A Broken Truce
Violent Silence Crossover Prog

Review by cajapandora3

4 stars Third recording from the Uppsala group, which has three keyboardists to his credit and has no need of the guitar, an instrument that is not missing the conception of the music of the Swedes. Do not expect anything like ELP or some other group with prominence of keyboards. We cannot, or in this case we mustn't look for references in the music of this wonderful group, because the epic of his compositions doesn't seek anyone else. Possibly, we are facing one of the best progressive groups throughout the history of the genre in the Scandinavian country. Nor will we find extensive environmental spaces generated by the keyboards, as we will find a dynamic exercise of a bunch of musisicians as absolute protagonists of all music produced by this group In my opinion, they retrieve all the spirit that was missing in terms of musical exposure. And it is that we find powerful arrangements that do not disdain the possibility, at any time, to amaze the listener with elements of jazz, Canterbury, most progressive electronic music ... in short, a music made by and for the mind. To all this it must be added two key elements in the band's musical resolution. On the one hand, a powerful, professional and heartfelt rhythm section able to navigate the intricate progressive models that abound in the music of this new work, giving heart and soul to compositions, already monumental, exciting and fascinating. On the other, we must not fail to mention their singer, a spiritual guide and an effective common thread that serves the entire musical fabric of this Swedish combo. I couldn't certainty define this group, but what I'm pretty sure is that we have some true captivating creators magnetizing us from the first moment when listening this new production and they put a powerful seductive and addictive spell on the listener: two features that few groups can just come together and not only in this recording, but in a whole production over the years. In fact, I also strongly recommend their previous two recordings. Extensive songs, a varied musical spectrum, immense arrangements with an intricate character, melody, sensitivity and efficiency are inherent characteristics that define the intentions of an act that exudes imagination in abundance and show no symptoms of complacency, since they don't try to demonstrate, despite its technical and too obvious possibilities, that they are the best musicians, but the creators of a musical broad powers world. As musicians ten ... as artists they exceed any scale. Creators of a vintage flavor and fascinating personality, Violent Silence are the talent, the will, the consistency and imagination that, for a long, long time seemed to be forgotten and neglected.
 Violent Silence by VIOLENT SILENCE album cover Studio Album, 2003
2.91 | 31 ratings

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Violent Silence
Violent Silence Crossover Prog

Review by kev rowland
Special Collaborator Honorary Reviewer

2 stars 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

 Violent Silence by VIOLENT SILENCE album cover Studio Album, 2003
2.91 | 31 ratings

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Violent Silence
Violent Silence Crossover Prog

Review by apps79
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

3 stars 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

Thanks to ProgLucky for the artist addition. and to NotAProghead for the last updates

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