6

Supersilent were formed in Oslo in 1997 by producer/sound-artist Helge Sten and the free jazz trio "Veslefrekk". The idea of the collective is to get together for recordings and concerts and simply freeform without any discussion about what they are going to do beforehand. This kind of avant-gardism can often sound enticing on paper but abominable on the CD player, yet Supersilent are living proof that interesting and listenable results can be achieved from such conceptual origins. This 4th album proper (their first outing was a triple album that comprised numbers 1, 2 and 3) is a truly syncretic mix that covers much of what they have explored on previous recordings, namely hardcore, jazz and ambient sounds with a liberal sprinkling of ethno-tribalism and Eastern spirituality. It's a necessarily discursive ramble through music's more esoteric combinations. There may be indulgence and loose cannons aplenty, but there are also many moments of impressive coherence and more than the occasional flash of pure, incandescent magic. --Paul Sullivan