Supersilent
Supersilent 8
By David Dacks

Due to Supersilent’s method — where the members get together to make music every few years or so without prior discussion of intent — to describe a sense of progression from recording to recording is problematic. Nevertheless, Supersilent 8 finds the band exploring a wider range of emotions than ever before. Granted, most of those emotions are pretty bleak, but range from dark and unruly to ominously placid. The first four cuts on 8 (all untitled, as is their style) get more and more dread as they go along. “8.1” threatens a groove about six minutes in but dissolves into asymmetrical cymbals and bass bleats. “8.2” shows drummer Jarl Vespetad’s amazing talent with the metallic parts of his kit; his sensitive playing makes up for the questionable keyboard sound, which evokes DX7 sword’n’sorcery patches from cheap ’80s soundtracks. Elsewhere though, the keyboards are as razor-sharp as ever, complementing the frequently metallic guitar — “8.6” is practically doom metal. As with all their albums, it’s an exhausting listen best appreciated at high volumes.

Your band get together every few years to make music without any preconceived ideas. Do you see the band changing their method over time?
Electronics/guitarist/keyboardist Helge Sten: The new album was made under similar conditions as most of our albums. We never have a strategy or preconceived idea when we enter the studio. However, all of us work a lot individually with sounds, patterns and ideas in general. We take this with us into the recording situation. We do of course discuss the music during the sessions but that has more to do with recognising what we feel will work or not. Our methods haven’t changed that much over the years; we use improvisation as a tool to compose music.

You just came back from China, what was it like touring there? How did people respond?
It was a very good crowd! Very open and curious. We had problems with equipment and logistics but we were somewhat prepared for this so we tried to work around them as best we could. We have some specific needs, in terms of backline and sound equipment, which have to be in place for us to be able to play. This was a problem for the whole tour, but we played some nice shows anyway. We enjoyed the great atmosphere and the people were really kind and helpful. (Rune Grammofon)
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