Silo - Work

  by Adrian Janes

published: 8 / 4 / 2014

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Review

Silo are a Danish trio who have previously released two albums : ‘Instar’” (1998) and ‘Alloy’ (2001). his third album heralds the reunion of Frederik Ammitzbøll (guitars), Mikkel Bender (bass) and Søren Dahlgaard (drums), after years of what their publicity terms “family life and gainful employment”. The impact of much of this music would strongly suggest that, however gainful, it has been at the expense of much grinding tedium which they have nevertheless managed to transform into something compelling. ‘Filaments’ outlines the formula that characterises a lot of the album: a relentlessly repetitive guitar phrase, seismic bass, and the solid smack of snare. For such aggressive, distorted stuff the separation of the instruments is remarkable (the drums were actually recorded in a different studio): as a result, it’s always possible to concentrate on a particular player, even while being aware of the group’s pulverising power. ‘Mechanics’ is a stand-out track, serrated guitar and a compulsive, jerky rhythm creating a sort of dirty funk. Throughout, there’s a constant one-note motif that suggests an industrial process, or maybe even the sound of a supermarket check-out, and the mechanical movements forced upon employees. But the sheer conviction in the playing and the surly rasp of the vocals (recalling the Young Gods’ Franz Treichler) means that, despite the repetition, boredom is evoked but not induced. Although there is a certain template that most of the tracks fit, each one has additional touches which distinguish them. So there are rappers on ‘Cabinn (sic) Fever’ (a fairly successful attempt to emulate Public Enemy at their most rock-based), bubbling guitar embellishments on ‘Filaments’, and on ‘Power Points’ the contrast between the grinding music and a keening female singer. Probably the greatest contrast is presented by ‘O’. Where many of the other tracks imply a disrupted assembly line or the shadow of smokestacks, this tune is based around a summery guitar line and the crooning of Mew’s Jonas Berre.But this being Silo, there is still a certain element of subversion going on, the initial near-disco rhythm slowing to a crawl before speeding up again, coupled with Bender’s constant fuzz bass growl. The final two tracks build on what has gone before and, if anything, go beyond. On ‘Generals’ the band deploy their forces in an all-out sonic assault where guitars, bass, drums and synths not only attack but sound as if being attacked. Concluding with ‘The Inexorable Sadness of Pencils’ - the title taken from ‘Dolor’, a Theodore Roethke poem on the boredom of office life - Ammitzbøll’s fiery Banshees-like guitar and grumbling bass synth again suggest experience without surrender. They’re amalgamated by ‘Theme from Shaft’-type strokes and more expansive wah-wah playing that begins with melancholy notes but which by the end is full of freedom, if only the freedom of leaving work early on Friday. When analysed it’s possible to hear that much of ‘Work’, like its real-world equivalents of factory, office and shop, is characterised by repetition and simplicity: the shuddering guitar phrase on ‘Stationary’, for instance, is too unformed to justify the name of riff. Yet taken as a whole the album is a sort of minimalist metal which possesses a mesmeric power.

Track Listing:-

1 Filaments
2 Mechanics
3 Stationary
4 Untitled 1
5 Cabinn Fever (feat. High Priest and M.
6 A Hedge Is a Lance
7 Power Points (feat. Maria Hamer-Jense
8 Untitled 2
9 Work (Out)
10 O (feat. Jonas Bjerre)
11 Generals
12 The Inexorable Sadness of Pencils

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/silocph
http://silomusic.net/