SILENCE KIT

And c'mon, forget about this reservation - 'Pieonear' is one of the best albums in Post-Rock in a whole and one of the best albums I'm honoured to own. Three LOOONG tracks, album reaching 71 minutes of playing time, without any sign of boredom or too-long section in there! Perfect? Dare I say YES?!!!

Opener begins with subtle piano piece, which suddenly changes into up-tempo march-like theme. Long psychedelic part follows, almost 'ambient rock', with some vocals and shoegaze feel to it. Progression goes on, and closing section enters, peaceful and mellow at first, but then heavy and almost stoner-rock alike.

'Psychoparasite' is indeed a thing to eat your brains out! 38-min long, with a record of first spring rain thrown into it, it varies so much in themes and sections, that it could have created a separate independent album! Ranging from quiet mood (just before the 'rain' sample and right after it) to almost hysteric riffing (slooow and dooomy, around 8-9 minute!), 'Psychoparasite' keeps you sharp through the whole timing of it, from relaxing intro to heavy coda!

But my favourite here is 'Lemon Smell Street' for sure, the closing track, which begins from SLUDGE riff, continues with melancholic Godspeedian line (some Post-Metal thrown in as well!) and ends with one of my favourite tunes from the band - marchy Ennio Morricone-like theme, SO cinematic! An additional coda (flute and acoustic guitar play so simple but touching harmony) closes the album, which is so flawless that it can be called A MASTERPIECE!

Seriously, do yourself a favour and check this one out. I mean it! Highly, extremely recommended!!!

Each track here is of different nature, even genre. 'Transmiss to Fades' is 5-min long ambient intro. 'Twenty Eight + Two' bears some shoegaze influences, but this is mostly brit-pop/art-rock thing. 'Francesca White' is energetic post-grunge radiohit (though I doubt SK would ever get a spot on radio, even with this song). 'Lunik', a shoegaze/dream-pop ballad, flows into instrumental 'Lunik: Ceremony', which is definitely first Post-Rock track here ;) 'Soul Departure' is another alternative tune, and closing 14-min long epic 'Objects in the Mirror...' is pure Post-Rock, with some obvious Prog hints here and there.

More than a half of the album was available free on Russian 'FreeMusic' site legally, and some tracks are still streamable both on band's MySpace and LastFM, but if you want to get the real SILENCE KIT, begin with 'Pieonear'. This is the thing to tear you apart! As for eponymous debut, it's good but definitely non-essential record, recommended for collectors and those who became interested after reading this all...thanks for reading, by the way!

Silence Kit is, for me, the russian combination of Godspeed and Mogwai and, as far as combinations go, this isn´t very thrilling. All I hear I feel I have heard before (maybe not, probably not), there is nothing exciting about this bands music. Disonant guitars that creat textures on which the changes and tempos slowly evolve are, of coure, the main course, as it is with 90% of the Post bands anyways, but here, although we do enjoy part of the ride, the rest comes out a bit bland, with no substance and nothing to make me want to listen carefully. And the fact that all songs are very, very long is, on the contrary to most prog, not a good thing, for, as usual, Post rock takes like forever to build up (which by the way is one of the elements I like the most about the genre), but here they not only take forever, they never seem to get anywhere.

I must say that although there are some good Post bands, most of them (for me at least) are like these, uninteresting and trying to make the same stuff others are doing without realizing the genre in itself is quite restricted.

I noticed that SK is always compared to GY!BE and Mono, but I, actually not being into any of these two major bands of the post-rock genre, consider SK qualified and a band with their personal, individual sound for sure.

Pieonear fell into my hands only after I had already listened to the rest of the albums by SK and turned out to be their strongest effort. I have to mark that in 2004, when Pieonear was released, the band’s line-up was perfect. It included Yaroslav Kovalev, a cello player, who, it’s sad to say, tragically died not long after... Cello as nothing else on Earth went very well with SK’s sound and somehow supplemented it, added certain, specific colours to it.

Lemonsmellstreet kicks off the album with a grand piano intro and then a sudden psychedelic heavy riff in the vein of sludge brings down. At 3:30 the main theme begins with an elegant rhythm followed by a gentle cello and a short speech spoken by a woman. I like the cello melody at 8:40 and don’t like some vocals at 9:17, which, to my mind, though not spoiling the atmosphere of the song anyhow, are a bit unnecessary. But it’s just a trifle. The guys from SK are rather great instrumentalists than singers, and, what is more, their music doesn’t need any vocals at all. A sudden change and a number of complex parts from 10:33 till the end of the song do make the song a true masterpiece.

Psychoparasite is a 39-minute epic (!!!). Well, it’s very difficult to concentrate on and follow such a lengthy piece of music, that’s why it seems quite dragged out. Some parts of this epic are senseless and actually have no connexion with each other, so Psychoparasite in fact is not an epic, but just a melting pot, where there are a couple of excellent parts and as much again boring parts. Best minutes: 7:00-11:00, 15:00-17:00, 35:00-37:00. The long period between 19:00 and 33:00 is filled by an ambient improv, though being recorded live, not outstanding at all.

Lemon Smell Street, though having no evident connexion and nothing in common with the first song Lemonsmellstreet, is the best track on the album IMHO and closes the album remarkably. The song can be divided into 4 parts: the intro is heavy and doomy; the first theme (after a sudden stop of the intro – yes, again, SK’s hobby-horse) is very melancholic with cello filling the gaps in a heartfelt way; the second one is a bit heavier, but still melancholic; and the third theme is my favourite of all, for it’s fearful, the most melancholic, the darkest - a stunning cello-set even frightens a listener! I saw this part of the song played live by SK and was shaken by this... The outro of the song is very beautiful and once again melancholic – with flutes and acoustic guitars...

It’s very difficult to describe all these melodies and moods of SK’s music; you should just give it a listen yourself to understand what I mean. It could be a true masterpiece of post-rock if Psychoparasite were at least a bit shorter. Though, the first and the third song are worth giving 5+ stars for, some parts of Psychoparasite are senseless and not eminent. That’s why my rating is 4+, but still on PA it is 4.

Though their debut album is not a very strong effort, it's quite original. The band obviously looked for their own sound, varied their music from one style to another, tried to comprehend in which manner they should play. That’s why “Silence Kit” is full of variety.

Transmiss To Fades seems to me a bit senseless and dull. All I can say is that this track is just 5- minute’s ambient intro. Twenty Eight + Two begins with a cool drum loop and then some acoustic guitars give the song logical development. Some postern and almost hidden vocals follow the music and at 4:00 mark there is a nice moment with trumpets (if I’m not mistaken), which, I don’t know why, reminds me of some King Crimson or Van Der Graaf Generator stuff. At 5:45 the final (a bit heavier) section begins and closes the song very gently. Francesca White is my favourite song on the album due to its simplicity and positive mood. It’s almost a post-punk, but what a great song! Nice solo at the end of it. Lunik and Lunik: Ceremony are the most typical for SK from all the songs on the album. Here we can hear post-rock structures, however with a Pink Floydish flavour. Soul Departure, being very compact and laconic, for my money, is a real example of what SK is capable of and shows their paces. The epic pompously called Objects In The Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, No=Fear is an interesting piece of music. It consists of some different parts - calm and heavy, ambient and aggressive. The song can be called even a progressive one, as it has a couple of tempo changes and psychedelic moments. All in all, a good closing of the album.

Well, a good album, but SK can do better. What they actually do nowadays! :) Overall, if one takes into account that it is a debut album, it’s nice. Actually nearly 3,5 stars, but 3 stars on PA.

Silence Kit in 2007 released their most cohesive album to date called The Great Red Spot. Pure instrumental: no vocals at all and no cello unfortunately. I really miss this (very important and meaningful) part of Silence Kit’s (SK for short) music and suppose Pieonear was darker and more melancholic than the latest album. But, nevertheless, The Great Red Spot has its own advantages.

First of all, diversity. The album itself is a true example of high-quality and complex post-rock music. Here we have complex structures, difficult passages, sudden drops and a nice guitar work. The opener Apple, being my favourite, kicks off the album with a great bass line, which subsequently develops into a typical post-rock thing: guitars build-up – climax – ambient break. Actually, the track can be divided into 3 obvious parts, the first part of which I described above. Then the song turns into a heavy part, which contains a couple of memorable guitar riffs in the vein of post-metal. In the middle of the track we can hear the most complex part of the song, and then we reach the climax at 10 minutes’ mark – a very enjoyable and aggressive moment. The third part of the song is, actually, a short mellow and calm outro. Overall, Apple is a great opener and a very coherent and enjoyable song in all respects.

Secondly, atmosphere. Venus, the second track, has a rich sound atmosphere and, actually, one of the best melodies I’ve ever heard by a post-rock band! Very beautiful and moving – all this is a result of stunning musicianship. The song itself is very calm and mellow with a couple of awesome melodies – my favourites are at 5:26 and at 6:00.

Thirdly, aggression. Though Pieonear is famous for its extra-melancholic, ominous, offensive and threatening melodies (notably caused by the cello presence), this time there some really aggressive and heavy riffs. The self-titled central epic of the album, being quite a lengthy piece (almost 24 minutes), is not my favourite, exactly because of its length and a bit incoherence, but contains some great moments. It’s impossible not to mention this awesome post-metal/sludge section with currency of 10 minutes from approximately 10:00 to 20:00. It’s very powerful, mad and even angry. One can notice some incoherence among the different parts of SK’s songs, and I noticed it as well. Well, it a minus, but I don’t care – with a few listens I can get used to it and I already did, and now I think it’s just a SK’s differential sign, their own stylishness. And it’s great.

Aurora Borealis shocked me for the first time by its cool sludge intro, not typical for a common post- rock structure. I hated the moment at 2:44 mark when the music stops all of a sudden, for I liked the beginning and thought the song will be as heavy as it begins. But what I got instead? Even a better continuation than I had expected! The rest of the song is a pure post-rockish thing (which reminds me of some EitS current stuff): developing, rich and nice. For just a second I imagined what if the song ended with this cool heavy intro (that would be more typical for post-rock) and realized that SK maybe had decided to play it inside out, reversely! What a spectacular thing! SK’s discovery!? :) (Later on I discovered that the song from Pieonear called Lemon Smell Street is built just the same).

Bonus Track called The End is not a special song; it’s just a speedy post-rock song (a bit psychedelic) with a nice drum section. But nevertheless I like it.

Verdict: an excellent addition to any post-rock/prog-rock collection. 4

This album? It’s a grower.

Definitely it is. I had some other tracks by SILENCE KIT downloaded from their MySpace or FreeMusic pages, but when you’re listening to the whole album, it’s quite another thing. Besides “The Great Red Spot” is less ambient and more metal than SK’s previous efforts. I won’t speak much about band’s bio, it has been already written by yours faithfully, I’d better get down to music. From the very catchy “Apple” intro you’re diving into SK’s world, where Post-Rock has memorable melodies, unconventional arrangements and fresh sound. No, this is not your another MONO or MOGWAI thing, this is a RUSSIAN band, hence you must look deeper! Eargasmic “Apple” coda drives to “Venus”, mellow, almost invisible track, which flows into the eponymous 23-min long journey. SK’s most unique hook is that they play Post-Rock clichés in reverse – it’s when trips are built from climaxes to mild fade-out instead of typical structures heard from hundreds of bands. “Aurora Borealis” just confirms this rule (but don’t think that they’ve just replaced one cliché with another!!!), and there’s also a relatively short bonus that follows after it.

So, if you’re tired of endless faceless GYBE or SIGUR ROS clones, SILENCE KIT is definitely a band to check out (really don’t mind !!! (c) JT). Not your usual kind of Post-Rock – while pretty conservative in a good way at the same time. Highly recommended!!!