Complications

At first glance – if you’re a black metal fan, that is – this eccentric band appears to be some form of supergroup, comprising members from notable bands such as Carpathian Forest, Borknagar and even a survivor of early Mayhem. Closer examination reveals that Age of Silence, for all its oddness, is primarily a side project of Norway’s lighter prog metal band Winds, and seemingly a means for its members to let off steam recording experimental music without fear of destroying their already rather tenuous careers.

The needlessly over-titled ‘Complications: Trilogy of Intricacy’ narrates the story of a supermarket being opened in Hell, with Lars Nedland’s pun-filled lyrics intended as a satire of the shopping experience in general. It’s an interesting and rather funny idea, and as a limited concept perfectly suits a shorter release such as this, rather than a more substantial album where it would doubtless become irritating and repetitive towards the end. Oddly, and rather disappointingly, the general feel is that this is Nedland’s own pet project, performed with assistance from his backing band Winds, as his multi-layered vocal duets with himself, and variety of restlessly shifting experimental vocal melodies in the style of seventies progressive rock, really do overpower the supporting riffs of Kobbergard and Extant, and the surprisingly tame drums of Hellhammer. The production job is fairly sleek and keeps the sound much more in the vein of progressive metal and rock than the dingy depths of black metal, meaning that even the rare occasions that the guitars scratch away at a dirtier riff, or Hellhammer unleashes the ticking double bass pedals, there’s a distinct lack of heaviness or aggression as the whole thing stays rooted in the whimsical fable.

Each member of the gathered musical throng is experienced at the sort of experimental attitude a release such as this requires, so it’s disappointing to hear most of them fall compliantly in line to provide backing riffs and, in the case of Andy Winter’s keyboards, mere atmosphere. Winter’s contributions increase slightly with each song, culminating in a reasonable yet still stifled solo spot of sorts paired up with the guitars in the finale, but I still felt a little let down after hearing his impressive work in Paul Kuhr’s Subterranean Masquerade, a similar but far more entertaining and inventive prog metal side project that even manages to live up musically to its brilliant name. Despite each song here boasting a central instrumental section, these mostly see the established riffs continue for several bars before Nedland comes back in with ever more ludicrous manners of singing.

1. The Idea of Independence and the Reason Why it’s Austere
2. Mr. M, Man of Muzak
3. Vouchers, Coupons and the End of a Shopping Session

Lars Nedland’s infernal story moves from a generalised scene-setting introduction in the first song to an account of the shopping experience in the second, and finally its aftermath in the third; so not so much a trilogy as a story that happens to be divided into three uneven tracks. The lyrics are entertaining for the most part, even if the forced satire and obvious puns come off as a little silly and even a little patronising in their repetition, just in case the reader/listener didn’t “get” first time around that the focus on barbecue special offers was because, like, this is Hell, where there’s fire and stuff aplenty. Although he forsakes the more customary black metal screech for entirely clean singing, Nedland’s lyrics are still occasionally indecipherable due to the odd styles in which he chooses to sing them, reminding me of similar tomfoolery from the vocalists of Gentle Giant and Van der Graaf Generator to name a couple. There’s some nice layering afoot, meaning the singer gets to replace what would traditionally be a lead guitar behind some of the verses with a simple copy of himself singing “ahh” a few times, and although there’s a distinct feeling that most of his deviancy is eccentric purely for the sake of it, it adds a nice sense of character to this E.P.

There’s a general tendency of improvement as the songs go on, all of the instruments being permitted slightly more freedom of expression in each consecutive piece, but never really succeeding in evoking the hellish atmosphere that the listener would perhaps expect. As mentioned earlier, Andy Winter is unleashed to some extent in the final song, though the decisions he makes are a little questionable to say the least: he opts to replicate a sound I can only describe as that of a 1950s B-movie UFO in the outro, and as for his chirpy leads in tandem with the guitars earlier on, he seems to unintentionally evoke the very “muzak” being condemned by the lyrics (if this is intentional, then it’s all the better for it, but it still sounds fairly rubbish). The oddest thing about this highly avant-garde and experimental release is how stilted, repetitive and dull it sounds on the whole, boasting little musical complexity or innovation and relying solely on a bloke singing out of time into a microphone about some people going shopping and burning to death, delivered in a variety of high-pitched voices.

This band released a full-length album prior to this that I would expect (and certainly hope) to be of more worth, and of course their more prominent work in Winds is quite enjoyable, if a bit bland. If you came here looking for some avant-garde black metal – and hell, who doesn’t need some of that in their lives? – there are other acts I would recommend instead, none of which allow a well thought-out, but ultimately rather daft plot to overtake the music in this way.

Following up the excellent album Acceleration, Age of Silence released this shopping mall-laden EP consisting of three songs. As previously hinted at, this trilogy is following the story of the evils of shopping malls, money hungry C.E.O.'s, and desperate customers, a theme which is quite original (yet similar to the one of Acceleration), to say the least. The production here is much the same as Acceleration; crisp and clean, with every instrument well heard.

The vocal work here is very much the same as Acceleration. Lars is a superb vocalist, and actually quite soothing. As in Acceleration, there are many overlapped vocal parts in the songs, where Lars will be singing one thing and in the background we hear vocals saying other things over his. Sometimes it sounds awesome, but other times it can get just a tad bit annoying.

The guitar riffs have gotten a lot more sinister in this release. While still being thrashy and melodic, they just have a more evil tone to them. There is a mini-solo in the first song, but other than that the EP is void of them. Also, much like Acceleration, the bass is in the mix but isn't quite audible, mostly following the guitar riffs.

The one amazing highlight from the previous release is the keyboards, and they're here but without any of the solos! To be honest, I was very surprised when it occurred to me after sixteen minutes of listening that I didn't hear any of the grand piano-sounding melodies; rather it is more of a Dark Tranquillity-esque keyboard sound and is in the background instead of out front, which is a downside.

Overall, this is a great release, albeit a short one. If you've heard Acceleration then I highly suggest you pick it up; if you haven't, then I still suggest you pick it up! My only wish is that it would be longer than 16 minutes; but for 8 bucks at The End records.com (or cheaper on ebay) it isn't much of a rip-off.

Here’s a curious little gem. I bought it some time ago, enjoyed it a few times, even put it into the un-pod for a while, and then neglected it. What brought it back to my attention was the album “Prominence and Demise” by Winds, almost an alter ego of Age of Silence. Winds’ vocal duties are handled brilliantly by Lars Eric Si and I was sure I’d heard him on this Age of Silence disc. A quick look and … no, the vocals are by Lazare (Lars Nedland). Si, listed under the pseudonym Eikind, plays bass for AoS. Very curious.

Nonetheless I hung around to listen once again to “Complications” and thoroughly enjoyed it. To be honest, though, an EP is enough. The musical form is like a metal funeral dirge, with strained, elegiac harmonies decrying the satanic evils of shopping malls. The lyrics are quite clever, even funny at times.

What makes the disc work is the arrangement. The warehouse sound suits the theme. It’s a grinding, almost hellish atmosphere that reinforces the notion that consumerism is a pact with the Devil, the guy in the Lamborghini Diablo parked illegally in the multi-storey. Get it?

Unlike Winds, there are no guitar solos to speak of. The focus is on the lyrics and their delivery and the deathly grindwall of guitars does the job of supporting them perfectly. Hellhammer’s drums are not what you might expect of him if you’re a Mayhem fan. They’re big, boomy and splashy with less focus on the staccato double kicks and precision attack of his black metal work. Just shows what a chameleon he can be when the job dictates.

If you find this going cheap, snap it up.