Silence The Foe - Sweet Sweet Suicide

  by Adrian Huggins

published: 18 / 6 / 2006

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Review

Hardcore band from Trondheim, Norway form March 2000. Play modern hardcore, similar to the likes of the Refused, don various European tours, and played a number of festivals all over Europe including the Norwegian version of US indie festival South by South West. Listening to this offering it is clear to see why and how they have managed to develop such an intense touring schedule. The opening track 'Chaotic Mind' lives up to its name and the other songs on the album pretty much carry this sensation on until you feel worn out listening to it. They do not fall into the hardcore-style trap of relying on screaming and yelling their way through with the music coming a none-to-close second to the amounting of screams they can fit into a song. There is excellent guitar work from the three guitarists, Audun Storset, Marcus Forgren and Roland Livar Kjenstad. The tunes are fantastic, sometimes revealing a much softer side to the group, which draws them comparisions with Feeder.It makes for compelling listening, and could may be billed as hardcore for the more relaxed and less intense. That’s not to detract from the heaviness of the band. It is more of a testament to how well crafted the music is on such songs as 'As Holy Spirit' and 'Penny for Your Lies'. The vocals of Anders Voldronning often sound similar to that of the black/death metal genre, yet never make the music feel as dark as that style of music. Their music is very much lively and uplifting as opposed to being dark and overly aggressive. This is most certainly hardcore Scandavian style. It is extremely well produced and put together and sounds technically perfect for a band playing such heavy songs. Let’s just hope their touring schedule carries on into both the rest of Europe and North America again.

Track Listing:-

1 Chaotic Mind
2 Sweet Sweet Suicide
3 As the Holy Spirit Carries Me Like Angels
4 Penny for Your Lies
5 Playing with the Old Me
6 Everything They Thought Was Everything
7 Melancholy Street